Victim: Kudou Shinichi
by midnightkiss56
Summary: In that instant he knew that he would never forget the anguish in Ran's eyes, or the sound of her scream, or even Hattori's pained expression as he closed the eyes of the Great Detective of the East with his fingers. (Rated T because I'm paranoid!)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I'm so glad you've stumbled upon my story. This story will be ongoing for a while, so if you like this chapter never fear! There is certainly more to come! Please leave a review. Thanks!**

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Victim: Kudou Shinichi

Chapter 1: The Note and Haibara's Tears

"Wow Heiji!" Kazuha exclaimed as she stared out the plane's window. "I still can't believe we're going back to Tokyo. I feel like we haven't been there in AGES."

"Last time we visited was a month ago Kazuha," Heiji corrected in a bored voice. "Besides. We won't be in the city for very long. We are here to solve a case, remember? Also, I don't think-" He was promptly interrupted by a slap to the back of the head.

"Can't you just stop running your mouth and let me enjoy myself. I'm sure the case won't take up all of winter break. We'll still have time to be in the city." Heiji sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. He really liked his childhood friend, but sometimes she could be a pain in the neck: quite literally. He took the message that had appeared on his doorstep out again. The note was very strangely worded, and it had been typed up so he couldn't tell who wrote it. It said:

"There is a place where the East and West must meet, and the sun will decide which side to set upon. The Manor of Tears shall be the stage, and the show will be a winter trajedy as the darkness after sunset chooses its prey."

The note had not been signed, but in the place where one would normally find a signature, there was a date. Hattori Heiji smirked to himself. _Ok, so maybe it isn't an actual _case_, but I'm going to figure it out_. He settled himself comfortably in his seat, and pulled his hat down over his eyes to make Kazuha think he was asleep. _Maybe we'll finally know who's better, eh Kudou? Let's just see who can figure out this note first; seeing as I've got a head start._ Heiji smiled once more. The Great Detective of the West would be paying the Great Detective of the East a very interesting visit.

Conan flipped through the mail that had been piling up at his house and sighed heavily. _Nothing for me again. Guess I've been gone a little longer than I thought I was._ The pint-sized detective hopped down from his chair. _I can sort through the rest of this after I get today's mail._ He went out to the front of the Kudou mansion, and was surprised to find a single envelope addressed to him. Conan glanced around cautiously; wondering who it was from as there was no other address but his own on the envelope. Then he took the odd piece of mail inside. He was just opening it when a voice made him almost jump out of his skin.

"What's that?" a small girl's voice said.

"Haibara!" Conan exclaimed as he faced her with the note he had pulled out behind his back. "How did you get in here?" The girl grinned at him in the way that she always did. She wasn't really happy, but she always put on a mask of sorts when she was around him. She shrugged.

"Took the professor's spare key. He really doesn't pay too much attention to where he leaves his things. Now, answer my question." By way of answer, Conan turned away indignantly to unfold the note.

"I'm not sure," he finally murmured after reading over it. "It looks like a riddle with a date at the end." Haibara snatched the note from his hand, and began to walk around the room with it; mumbling the words under her breath as she paced. Then she handed it back to him with another smile.

"Seems like an invitation," she suggested. "And being that it's addressed to Kudou Shinichi, you're going to need an antidote to go." Conan nodded in agreement as he glanced over the note once more. _The East and the West... Could it mean...Hattori?_ "It's the perfect opportunity to try this out then," Haibara added; making Conan meet her eyes again. She held a small, open box in her hand that contained two identical pills. "These should last about two days each, but only use the second if you get in a pinch, and make sure you've changed back into Conan before you take it." Conan gave the girl a genuine smile, and thanked her as he ran back out the house with the box and the note in his pockets.

Haibara waited until the house was silent again before letting go of her mischievous smile. _Idiot. You should've told him._ She felt the guilt weighing her down the same way the second box in her own pocket did. _There's no way you can keep lying to him._ Haibara shook her head as she always did though, and made sure the Kudou mansion was locked as she left. After all, she didn't want it's only inhabitant to return to find it robbed. She refused to be to blame for another disaster in his life.

_"Come on, Shiho! Let's go over there!" the little boy laughed as he darted past his best friend. She tried to keep up with him, but her seven-year old legs couldn't keep up with his nine-year old ones and she tripped. Shiho frowned as she examined her skinned knee. It burned, and she heard herself whimper involuntarily as tears filled her eyes. She may have been a child genius, and she may have been placed in his class because of this, but she was still a child. She was still just a little girl like all other little girls, and she wasn't old enough to truly understand that tears did not stop the pain. _

_"Takashi!" her tiny voice cried out to her best and only friend. The little boy turned back to her at the sound of her voice, and a sad smile graced his lips as he saw her disappear into a puddle of tears. _

_Shiho didn't think he would come back for her at first, and she wasn't sure why, but it frightened her more than anything. Her parents were gone already, and the only person she had left besides him was her sister. Of course, Takashi didn't know about the horrible organization she stayed with. He only knew that Shiho was an orphan just like him, and he understood what that felt like. That was the first thing they ever realized they had in common. _

_"Shiho," he whispered tenderly; kneeling beside the distraught girl and stroking her hair. "Don't cry Shiho." He lifted her chin and smiled softly at her. "I'll always protect you. I'll always take care of you, and I'll never leave you alone." He always said that to her when she was sad, which happened to be a lot. Then he took her by the hand, and helped her climb onto his back. He carried her away; telling her to pretend that she was a princess, and he was her knight in shining armor._

It took Ai Haibara a moment to realize that she was curled up in a crying heap on the professor's cold kitchen floor. A shiver ran down her spine. _No. Not again._ "I won't let anything happen to you, Kudou-kun," she promised out loud. With her new purpose in mind she got back to her feet, and went to change her clothes for the night.

**Yay! Chapter 1 complete! Thanks for reading! I would very much appreciate a review. They help a lot. The next chapter should be up soon. Thanks again!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! I will try to update daily, but that might be a little difficult. However, I do tend to write stories much faster when I don't have to pull quotes from whatever I'm writing about so the amount of days between chapters shouldn't be too many. Anyway, please review, and I hope you enjoy this story. Thanks! (Please read the author's note at the end of this chapter. Also, if you are the reviewer called "Little Fan," please don't freak out. The story will get better and have a surprisingly better ending than you might think. Thanks for reviewing though.)**

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 2: _It's not like he'll die, or anything._

"Where have you been?" Conan froze at the doorway of the kitchen as Ran impatiently stood tapping her foot. "Well..." she added; noticing his hesitation. He had been over an hour late getting home from his house. Of course, all Ran knew was that he was supposed to be at the professor's. He had been in such a hurry to leave with Haibara's antidote though that he had to stop and call the professor to make plans for when he changed back. He was planning on making it seem like "Conan" was staying with Professor Agasa for a few days, and distracting her as "Shinichi" so she would stop worrying about him.

"I was...um...I was just...uh..." Conan then got a better idea than the one he had thought up with Agasa, and lowered his head in false childish shame. "I'm sorry Ran-neechan," he said in his most child-like voice. "I had to talk to the professor longer than I thought. You see, I'm leaving tomorrow to spend the week with my mother, and he had to make arrangements to drive me to the airport." Conan kept his head down. _Hopefully that should pacify her for now._ "I just forgot to turn on my phone." Finally, he looked up to see tears in her eyes. _Uh-oh._ Ran's lip quivered, and she lowered her head.

"A whole week..." she mumbled with a sniffle. Conan eyed her carefully in surprise. He didn't think she would be so emotional over just one week without him. He reached up to take her hand.

"Ran-neechan..." he started. "It's only-"

"I'm just so happy for you, Conan-kun!" Ran suddenly exclaimed as she scooped him up and hugged him tight. _I forgot how much Ran loves to hear about families getting back together._

"You're crushing me!" he complained loudly, and Ran laughed out an apology as she set him down and knelt to meet his eyes. "It's so good that she finally wants to see you. I mean you must miss her so much by now." Conan pictured his REAL mother in the awful disguise she had used to fool him.

"Not really..." he muttered; not knowing he had said it aloud.

"What do you mean?" Ran asked quietly. Conan tensed up as he realized his mistake. There was a hint of concern in her voice, and her eyes suddenly displayed a shadow of sadness. "Why wouldn't you miss her? She is your mother, after all." Conan just looked at the floor. He was at a loss for words. He didn't even really miss his REAL parents anymore. He had at first, but then as he got older it was as if he had reached a point of understanding. He knew the reason they left, and he knew that he wasn't alone, so that was good enough. _Right?_

"It's nothing," he finally said with the happy smile of the child he was supposed to be back on his face. "I've got to go pack though, so I'll come talk to you again later." Then he dashed off to the room he shared with her father and shut the door. He leaned on the door as he released a breath he didn't notice he was holding in. Something kept bothering him though as he packed up his bag. Ran hadn't seemed convinced that he was ok. _Hopefully, a week away will make her forget about it._

He was right to be worried. Ran was not convinced. _Something isn't right. There would have to be a reason for a kid not to miss his own mother._ Ran knew that Conan was smart enough to realize that just because a mother didn't give her child everything he wanted, it didn't mean that she didn't care about him. _If it's not that reason...then what is?_ The teen straightened up again as she noticed she was still kneeling on the floor. Then she turned back to the dishes she had been washing.

Just then, her father made a sound in his sleep at the table. She rolled her eyes, but then another thought struck her. _Where is Conan's father?_ Then she remembered how strange his behavior was when they met his mother, and how he seemed so relieved to be back with them. Ran didn't like the ideas and possibilities forming in her head, so she shook them off and decided that she would simply ask Conan when he got back. _It's just one week. It's not like he'll die, or anything._

Heiji yawned for the fourth time that evening. Pretending to sleep on the plane had actually made him drowsy. Not to mention, it gave him a pain in the neck almost as irritating and demanding as Kazuha.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked him. "You slept on the plane, you big baby. You shouldn't be tired." Heiji grunted in response and leaned on the window of the cab they were in. He couldn't wait to be in their hotel just to sleep. _And to get away from a certain girl who decided she just HAD to come along to Tokyo._ Heiji straightened up in his seat. What he really needed Kazuha out of way for was the call he needed to make. He wanted to tell Kudou about the note, and to see if he had gotten a similar one. He couldn't think of another reason why the note would mention East and West. To Heiji, there was no other explanation. _Kudou has to have a note of his own. _

Finally, after managing the grueling task of getting Kazuha to leave him alone in his hotel room, Heiji took out the note and his phone, and called Shinichi.

"This better be good, Hattori," Conan greeted in annoyance. "I had to convince Ran that I changed my ringtone." Heiji sniggered.

"That's your problem Kudou," he replied slyly. "You're the one who left the volume on."

"Just shut up and get to the point." Heiji grinned as he unfolded the note in front of him.

"There is a place where the East and West must meet," he began. "and the sun will decide which side to set upon. The Manor of Tears shall be the stage, and-"

"Where did you hear that?" Conan suddenly interjected. Heiji's grin turned smug. _I knew it._

"Ah, so you got one too then." He heard rustling as Conan unfolded the note he had received.

"Yeah, and the date is for the day after tomorrow. It seems a bit like a threat to me. Wouldn't you agree Hattori?"

"Then I say we meet up at this "Manor of Tears" tomorrow." Then it was Conan's turn to smirk. He couldn't pass up an opportunity to do something reckless and intriguing, and it gave him another reason to become himself again.

"All right," he agreed; lowering his voice. "But let me just tell you that "Conan" is abroad with his mother this week, so Kudou Shinichi is who you should expect to see." Then Conan hung up, and Heiji put his phone down. _THIS should be interesting._

**Hello there again. I'm so sorry this chapter was a little boring. I'm just establishing what is going on, and I promise this story will get better. Thanks for reading though, and before I write anymore chapters I would like to explain some things. Ok, so the reason I did not write Heiji with an accent is because I am 1. Too lazy. 2. I don't like reading in accents. And 3. If I write him that way, I will undoubtedly and accidentally give the accent to other characters. Now, another thing I always notice about DC fanfics is that people either like to do Shinichi/Ran or Shinichi/Shiho (Conan/Ai) and leave it at that. However, even though this story IS a Shinichi/Ran, I am not ignoring Shiho like some others have done, and I will in fact make her an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT CHARACTER in the sequel to this story. Also, the reason I am splitting one long story into two is because that is just the way things happened to turn out. (I'll let you know if this changes.) I'm sorry this chapter was not too good, and you are probably REALLY annoyed with me right now because of this long note, but please leave a review. Good or bad, I appreciate your comments and ideas. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the third installment of this story. I'm glad there are actually people reading and being interested in this story. I was a bit worried at first that my title and description might make people not want to to read it, but I am pleasantly surprised and grateful to the readers so far. Thanks for your interest, and your comments! **

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 3: The Place He Shouldn't Have Been

Ran had never been a light sleeper, so she was very surprised when she was awoken by sounds in her father's office. She sat very still in bed until she heard the sound of a bag being zipped up. Then she pulled back her covers and set her feet on the floor; only to gasp audibly at how cold it was and yank her bare feet back up into bed. _Dad forgot to turn up the heat again._

The irritated teen wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, and quickly made a beeline for the thermostat so she could turn up the heat. Then, she heard a sound again. _Whoever is down there is going to get my freezing cold FOOT in their FACE for making me get up like this._ With that thought in mind, she went down the stairs in her slippers. Despite the fact that she was unarmed, she felt ready for anything. ...Except what she found when she opened the door. It was Conan, who was just sliding his phone into his backpack when she opened the door. They frightened each other so much that Ran ended up in a Karate stance; ready for a fight, and Conan ended up falling on the floor near her discarded blanket.

As soon as she recognized him in the darkness, she grabbed her blanket and shut the door behind her as she joined him inside. "You scared me half to death Conan-kun," she stage-whispered as she pulled the blanket back around her shoulders. "Why are you down here? It's four in the morning."

_I could ask you the same question Ran. Normally you could sleep through a train wreck and an earthquake if no one shouted loud enough._ "Sorry Ran-neechan," he whispered in reply. "Professor Agasa said he would be here around four because I have to get something from his house before I go."

"Oh." Once again, Ran didn't seem convinced to him, but she nodded in response anyway. On the inside though, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. She knelt down and was suddenly about to ask Conan not to leave when his phone vibrated, and he glanced at it quickly before putting it back in his pocket.

"Well, I'm off," he said as he practically threw his bag over his shoulder. Ran sighed heavily; trying to see him off with a smile. Just as he was about to cross the threshold though, she grabbed his arm. She didn't say anything, and he gazed at her quizzically. _Why does she seem so upset?_ Before he could say anything, she pulled him into a hug.

"Take care of yourself, ok?" she murmured. Then she released him, and he gave her a final crooked grin as he closed the door behind him. Ran slid her legs out from under her, and pulled her knees up to meet her chest. She held onto herself like that as she listened to his echoing footsteps going down the stairs. _Wrong! It's all wrong! Don't let him leave. This is wrong._

Finally unable to take the stress of her feelings, she jumped up and hurried to the window. Breathing a sigh of relief as she watched him board the professor's car, she gently returned the wave he gave her. She couldn't get rid of the feeling though as she watched the yellow car disappear into the night, and it remained like a cloud over her mind as let herself flop back down on the floor. A sudden chill went down her spine. However, it was not from the cold.

_"Sorry Ran! Go on ahead of me! ...I'll catch up with you right away!"_

Shinichi's words suddenly stuck out in her memory, and she knew she was experiencing the same feeling on the cold floor of the detective agency that she had felt in Tropical Land. Filled with worry, she eventually fell asleep on the floor; curled up into a tight ball to keep warm.

Conan took a deep breath as he stood in his bedroom. Even though he had just been to his house yesterday, he was happy to know that he would be leaving as himself again. He had really wanted to sleep in his own bed that night, but he hadn't really thought out his plan until after he had spoken to Hattori. He pulled the note from his pocket to read again as he threw his shirt across the room. He had decided to leave early to get his clothes and change back into his older self. Then he would pay Ran a visit before meeting Hattori. The other teen had sent him the name of the place where they would rent a car, and from there they would go on to the manor.

Conan wondered what they would be in for at the manor. He had done some research on Ran's laptop during the night, and he new that the mansion was actually not too far away from Tokyo, and it had gotten its nickname from a murder that had occurred there ten years before.

The story was that a young woman had been found dead in her room. She appeared to have been beaten to death, and was propped up against a wall with tears still going down her cheeks. No one had caught her murderer. It was often said that people could hear her crying in certain rooms, and the reason she cried was to serve as a reminder that no one had heard her cries when she was killed.

Ten years later it had been converted into a simple tourist attraction, where people spent nights just to try and see her ghost. In other words, what was an intriguing mystery, had been twisted into a legend that helped to run the manor as an inn. Conan sighed. He wasn't sure why, but the story of the woman's murder didn't seem to grasp his attention the way he thought it might, and he suddenly thought that the notes could've been written by the owner just to have two famous detectives come in to make tourists more interested.

_Oh well. At least I get to be myself for a couple of days._ Suddenly happy again, Conan took off his shorts and grabbed one of the blankets from his bed. He didn't want Haibara or Agasa to find him basically naked on the floor. Haibara would never let him live it down.

Haibara of course stood peeking in his door. She felt like something terrible would happen; that she had made a mistake and the so-called "temporary antidote" would in fact kill him. As she watched him clinging to the blanket around his body like a lifeline as he tried to contain the pain, she felt deathly afraid. It occurred to her, that she had never actually watched him grow back up before; only shrink. She knew it was over when she heard the dull thud his body made as he hit the floor, and terror took over as she waited for any sign of movement.

Just as her hand was on the doorknob, the blanket began to move with the teenager beneath it. Haibara drew back as if she'd been slapped; feeling stupid for being so fearful. _Kudou-kun may be reckless, but he is also strong._ The tiny scientist crept away silently; making her way downstairs to go back to sleep on the Kudous' sofa. The moment she had heard about his plans, she had snuck in so she could make sure he was ok. She hadn't slept at all though. As she lay for another hour listening to him rummaging through his closet and eventually leaving the house, she felt a sense of calm finally wash over her, and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

Shinichi walked back to the detective agency with a grin on his face. For once, he didn't care who saw him or recognized him. He was too busy thinking about what Ran would say when he walked in. She was always up early to make breakfast for her dad, so it surprised him when he didn't find her in the kitchen. What didn't surprise him though, was the sound of Kogorou's snores.

He went back to the agency's main office, and his happy mood lost some of its potency when he finally spotted her. Ran lay curled up on the floor near the front window with her blanket. That told him she hadn't moved since he waved to her as "Conan." _What is she so worried about?_ Shinichi crouched beside her, and reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear. He let his hand hover though as he furrowed his brow in thought.

She had done so much for him without knowing it. She had even saved his life when he had been shot. He had seen her crying for him and hating him, and he had only been able to offer her the comfort of a child. He didn't deserve her, and she deserved so much more than someone who couldn't be there for her the way she wanted. _I need to do something for HER._ Shinichi gently slid his arms under her knees and back, and lifted her up off the floor.

Then he placed her on the sofa and put his coat on top of the blanket she was covered in. He wouldn't let her feel alone in Conan's absence; especially not when he had two extra days he could use to spend time with her after investigating the manor. He felt the weight of the container in his pocket as he sat down in front of the sofa. _Sorry Haibara. Looks like the second antidote can't only be for emergencies._

_"I told you to come straight to the car after school every day," the man holding fifteen-year old Shiho by her throat said. They were in an alley not far from the school, and she couldn't help but wish someone would help her. However, she knew he or she would most likely be killed for it. "I have given you the chance to have your education, and you have disappointed me yet again. Would you rather be schooled back at our facilities again?" _

_Shiho was not afraid, but she could feel his looming threat in her mind almost as clearly as she felt his fingertips on her neck. She had been delayed in going to the car by Takashi, but she could never blame him. He was the brother she never had, and she could never bring herself to be angry with him about anything. _

_"Why don't you just kill me then?" she murmured; finally saying the words she had been longing to say for so long. She was tired of it all; exhausted with the harsh words and cruelty of the Black Organization that had basically raised her. The man who was in charge of her smiled maliciously, and tightened his grip. _

_"Is that what you want?" He laughed without any real humor in it, and then he let her drop onto the ground. "I can't give you that, but I can teach you a lesson you won't learn in school." That was when he began to kick her. She let him do it too. She had lost the ability to care._

_Suddenly, when she felt her consciousness slipping away, the man cried out loudly, and the kicking ceased. It was instantly replaced by a frightened voice. "Shiho! Shiho, come on. We have to go." Warm hands pulled her to her feet, and she gripped one of them in her own as she was quickly led away from the alley. _

_She was dizzy from all the kicking though, and soon she had collapsed on her knees. "Takashi," she mumbled distantly as he knelt before her. "You...shouldn't have come. They'll kill y-"_

_"I'm not leaving you here. I can't just sit by and let them hurt you." She raised her head to meet his soft brown eyes, but instead she was met with piercing blue ones. Suddenly his eyes changed to brown, and just as quickly, back to blue. Then a shot rang out, and he fell to the ground beside her. His eyes remained blue and open wide to match the expression of his shocked face. His hair was much darker than Takashi's should have been, but he was not Takashi, and at the same time he was. The name she screamed though, was not his._

"Kudou-kun!" Ai Haibara cried as she bolted upright on his sofa. The little girl sat gasping for breath; unable to fully comprehend what had just happened in her nightmare. She held her head in her hands as she tried to convince herself that it was just a dream.

_But it wasn't a dream. It was a memory: a place where Kudou Shinichi should not have appeared._

**Wow. That actually didn't turn out quite the way I had planned it, but it moves us a little further into the story. Sorry if this story is moving too slow for you. Soon though, we will get to the craziness! For now, could you please leave a review. They really help, and I want to read your opinions. Thanks. (By the way, sorry for that lame excuse for a dream sequence. I did not do a good job with it and I am sorry.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this took so long. I have been very busy for these past few days, but here we are again at the next chapter. I hope you like it.**

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 4: Honesty and Stalkers

Shinichi glanced at his watch for the fifth time that morning. It was already eight in the morning, and he'd been sitting on the floor near Ran for nearly two hours. He sighed heavily. _I'll come back after I investigate the manor._ Just as he was standing up though, a hand caught his wrist.

"So you finally came back," Ran mumbled. He turned to face her, but her eyes were closed. She tightened her grip. "And now you're leaving again..." She paused, and took in a deep breath that told him she was trying not to cry. Then her eyes opened; revealing her sadness. "Why?" Ran sat up, but she still would not release him. She stared at the floor as she took shaking breath after shaking breath. She didn't want to cry over him, but she hadn't seen him in so long it was difficult not to.

He started to say, "I was going to come back after-" but she cut him off.

"When? When were you coming back?" Ran suddenly glared at him, and their was a fierce anger and frustration in her eyes that he had never seen before. All of her emotions were plastered on her face; seeming to shout at him to tell him how tired she was of all the waiting and how much she didn't understand. "You keep on telling me that you have all these difficult cases, and I just..." She paused, as if considering how she should speak to him. "I don't know if I can believe that anymore." Her tears were flowing freely all of a sudden, but she had decided that she wanted him to see them. He needed to see what he had been doing to her.

The two teens were both silent after that. Neither one really knew what to say or do. After a few minutes of this, Shinichi finally crouched down beside the sofa to be level with her. "You can let go of my wrist now, Ran," he murmured. "I'm not going anywhere...not yet." She slowly uncurled her fingers and let his wrist drop. He took a deep breath. He wanted to tell her the truth so badly, but he knew what that would cause. He didn't want to lie to her though.

"The truth is that I've been really working on only one case, Ran," he began. Her expression immediately changed from sad to confused, and he cleared his throat. "Do you remember that night in Tropical Land, when I said I would meet you but I didn't?" Ran nodded; anticipation showing clearly in her eyes as she waited for him to explain. He leaned a little closer and lowered his voice. "That was when this case started, and it has been my longest and most difficult one yet... I can't tell you much about it, but I can promise you that I am getting closer to solving it every day, and eventually, I will be able to come back home." _At least I hope so._ "What I'm trying to tell you is not to worry, ok? Everything will be fine."

Ran sat still and silent; pondering his words. "But how long do you think it'll take?" she asked. "What about school? How are you going to graduate?" Shinichi really didn't have an answer to her question. He had basically been teaching himself everything she was learning in his free time. After all, the homework of a first-grader was not exactly hard, so he always finished it with enough time left to read through and copy Ran's notes while she made dinner. He hadn't really thought about what he would do, but he knew that if he continued learning on his own he could somehow pull through.

Discussing school would help him divert her attention, so he comforted her in the knowledge that he would work everything out. She nodded slowly at his answer, and then suddenly jumped to her feet. "What time is it?" she demanded. "I forgot to make breakfast for my dad." Shinichi smiled as Ran disappeared into the stairwell to go up to the kitchen, and he grabbed his coat and bag and followed her out the door so he could leave. As he was almost on the sidewalk, she grabbed him by the hood of his coat.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked; adopting the tone she often used on him when he was Conan. _I guess I wasn't supposed to leave._

"I'll be back in a couple of days," he promised. "I just have something to look into today. That's all." Ran frowned at him, but she let him go. He gave her his best crooked grin, and left her standing at the bottom of the stairs. She waited until he was out of sight, and then she sped back up to her room and closed the door. Then she pulled out the mobile phone she had just taken from his pocket.

Smiling to herself, she began to pack a bag of her own as she read through the plans he made with Heiji over text. _There's no way I'm letting you out of my sight this time._ Once she was dressed and ready to leave, Ran wrote a quick note to her dad and left to follow the high school detective. She was determined not to let him get away so easily, and she almost hoped he knew that as she made her way down the street. In all her excitement though, she didn't register the eyes that were watching her through a pair of binoculars on a nearby rooftop.

_I wonder if she'll cry for you, Kudou Shinichi. There is nearly always someone who mourns the dead._

**Dun dun dun! Oh no! Who is this stalker-like person? What's going to happen when Shinichi realizes Ran is following him. These questions and others will be answered...soon. I can't say next chapter because that would be inaccurate. Mwuaahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa! Ok. Please review. I know this chapter was a short one, but I want to know what you think. Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok. So I was informed through a review that my last chapter was a cliffhanger. It was not intentional. It just sort of...happened. Anyway, here is a new chapter for you. I hope you like it. **

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 5: The Manor of Tears

Heiji stood tapping his foot as he leaned on the car he had just rented. He had arrived early to make sure Kazuha didn't tag along, but that didn't stop him from being impatient. He was ready to go, and every time he stole a glance at his watch, he felt an urge to get in the car and make Shinichi catch up with him later. Finally, after what seemed like the most agonizing wait of his entire life, Heiji watched Shinichi walk up to him out of the corner of his eye.

He knew that he was supposed to see a teenager, but he still couldn't help picturing the tiny boy with glasses in his mind. "You're late, Kudou," he stated in a tone of annoyance; trying to distract himself from his thoughts. Shinichi looked down at his watch in confusion, and then back at his friend with a slight smile.

"Why did you get here so early?" he inquired; biting back a sarcastic remark.

"Why do you think? Kazuha wouldn't leave me alone, and there was NO way I was going to let her follow me here."

"Oh, so that's why you left so early," a voice full of intrigue said. Both teens whirled around to find Kazuha herself standing just inside the open passenger door and resting her elbows on the top of the car. "And just where might you two be headed where there is NO way you would let me follow you." Kazuha was glaring at Heiji as she finished, but she wasn't as angry as she had seemed at first glance.

There was pride in her eyes and a smug grin spread across her features, and Shinichi found himself forming a mental image of her standing atop a fallen Heiji; bowing and accepting applause from an unseen audience.

"How did you know I'd be here?" Heiji demanded; taking up a matching position to hers on the driver's side of the car. Anyone standing in Shinichi's position who was unaware of the situation would probably have laughed at the sight of the two teens standing in the car; assuming it was a couple having a playful argument who would make up in a moment with a kiss over the top of the vehicle.

"Stupid!" Kazuha exclaimed; taking a small piece of paper from her pocket. She waved the piece of paper in Heiji's face before letting him take it and turning to face Shinichi. "This idiot left the phone number and information for the rental car in his hotel room." Shinichi just shook his head at the ridiculous and obscene words he was watching the two shout at each other over the car. He was just about to say something to stop them when a pair of hands suddenly covered his eyes.

"He's not the only idiot here, you know," Ran declared; loud enough for the other two to hear her. The argument ceased, and Shinichi realized all eyes were on him as he pulled her hands from his face. She moved to his side and gave him a satisfied and smug look just like Kazuha had given Heiji not a moment before. Then she held out his phone to him. "You know you really should be more careful about where you leave your phone. It's very easy to steal when it's in your coat pocket." He quickly snatched the phone away from her as she walked to the car to greet Kazuha. _Damn. She couldn't just sit tight for a couple of days..._

"So, where are we going?" the girls both asked at once as they stood beside each other. Heiji jumped down to stand next to Shinichi; creating a sort of face-off between the boys and the girls.

"WE are going to solve a case," Heiji stated; indicating himself and Shinichi. "YOU are going back home." Both girls looked at each other as if communicating through their eyes. Ran was the first to turn back.

"Make us go, then," she ordered; folding her arms. Kazuha nodded in agreement and put her hands on her hips; beginning a silent battle.

_10 minutes later..._

Heiji and Shinichi stared straight ahead in the front seat of the car while Kazuha and Ran chatted happily in the back. The manor was only twenty minutes outside of the city by car, but the teen detectives felt like the drive would never end. That was not to mention the fact that Heiji had already gotten lost once and had been forced to turn around.

"Are we there yet?" Shinichi finally groaned after another loud spout of laughter erupted from the back seat. Ran leaned forward, still laughing, and replied.

"Oh come on Shinichi. Don't be such a child." Heiji snorted loudly; trying to contain his laughter and keep his hands on the steering wheel.

"What? What are you laughing about?" Kazuha piped up as Heiji tried to stop laughing. "That wasn't even supposed to be funny, you moron."

"Sorry, sorry," he said; laughing even more at the irritated look on the other boy's face. "It just made me think of something funny." Shinichi reached over and slapped the other teen's arm. "Sorry. Sorry... Look, we're here..." The sudden outburst forgotten, all four of them stared up at the looming walls of the huge manor before them. It was hauntingly beautiful, and one who hadn't heard the stories about it would probably stop and take pictures of it as an architectural masterpiece.

"Wow," Ran breathed as they got out the car. No one dared say anything else as they got their bags and started toward the tall double doors. Halfway up the stairs to the door, Shinichi froze; his heart pounding in his ears. He turned to face the way they had come; the horrible, sinking feeling of being watched sending a shiver down his spine. He nearly fell down the stairs as a hand rested gently on his shoulder. He turned back quickly to meet Ran's concerned eyes, which grew even more intense when she saw his face.

"You don't look so well, Shinichi," she remarked. "Are you ok?" She tentatively reached up to touch his forehead, but he got a hold of himself and gently pushed back her hand.

"I'm fine Ran," he murmured. "It's nothing." She didn't seem convinced as he walked past her though. _Then again, she NEVER looks convinced when I tell her something._

"Welcome wandering travelers," a man's voice proclaimed from within the dimly lit parlor. The four teens shivered, and almost didn't take off their coats. "Sorry about the temperature," the voice added as its owner, a stout man somewhere between his forties and fifties, appeared. "It'll be much warmer if you would just follow me." They did; the small group once again separating as the girls carried on their conversation.

"You think he's the one Hattori?" Shinichi asked in a whisper so the two behind them wouldn't hear. Heiji shrugged in reply.

"We need to get him to talk to us," he added before moving on ahead to try to get a word with the man they were tailing. Before he could say anything though, the man was opening another set of double doors in front of them. Beyond the doors was a lavishly decorated sitting room; already populated with seven excited guests who were talking and laughing on the sofas and chairs scattered about. Shinichi observed that the business probably wasn't very good. There were many more unoccupied chairs in the room, and their had not been any more than eight other pairs of shoes in the doorway besides their own.

The presence of the newcomers was completely ignored as they were lead over to a desk tucked away in the corner of the room. The man, who insisting on being called "Director," helped them get four rooms for the night, and informed them that if they hurried, they could come back to the sitting room for a special tour of the grounds and dinner afterwards.

The girls, of course, dragged the boys into joining them, and they were soon in a line outside to board a long wooden carriage to take the tour. As they passed the driver while getting on, Shinichi got the same feeling that someone was watching them. He sat down beside Ran, and gazed at each of the seven passengers as they walked by; trying to pick out which one would most likely be observing them.

None of them seemed to be suspicious to him though, and he was still thinking about it when Ran said, "Conan-kun would have loved this." Shinichi blinked a couple of times, and looked out at the open land that proudly displayed the impressive back side of the manor. _Not really._ Then he saw how content Ran looked as she gazed happily out into the distance. He smiled.

"I'm sure he's having a great time," he reassured her. It was the truth, and he was glad to tell it to her. Seeing her smiling face made the tour interesting, and he disregarded his fears as he got to talk casually with her for the first time in a while.

When they arrived back, they had to sit through dinner listening to the ghost stories about the "Weeping Woman" who had given the manor its nickname, and tales about vanishing guests that made the room go silent and people cringe. The room seemed to be filled with excitement and fear, and Shinichi laughed to himself at the stupidity of it all once he got back to his room. _It's the living they should be scared of, not the dead._

"What a load of crap, eh Kudou?" Heiji remarked as he entered, uninvited, and fell backwards onto Shinichi's bed. "We never got to talk to the director, but he seems pretty desperate for business. Just watch. In the morning we'll show him the notes and he'll introduce us to the guests and claim we were invited here by the 'Weeping Woman' to solve her murder or something." Shinichi returned the other boy's smirk, but after Heiji had gone and he got into bed, he felt a strong feeling of foreboding come over him.

He knew someone had been watching them, but he didn't think Hattori would take him seriously so he hadn't said anything. After he lay in the darkness going through his concerns in his mind, he eventually realized he was getting hot under the covers. Taking it as a sign that he had stayed awake too long, he tossed his shirt to the foot of the bed and finally fell asleep.

A few hours later, a door in the hallway slowly creaked open. The figure paused; waiting to see if anyone had heard the movement, and then crept down the hallway. The shadowy figure knew exactly where it was going, and immediately stopped in front of the door to the young detective's room. The figure glanced around the hallway once more, and then moved silently into the room.

The room was dark, but not dark enough to conceal the shirtless, sleeping teenager on the bed. The figure smiled as it crept towards him. It stood observing him for a moment, and then reached out its hand. But the detective did not notice until it was too late.

***Sings out loudly in an opera voice* "CLIFFHANGER!" That's right! this was the chapter that was supposed to be a cliffhanger. MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA! Sorry. Anyway, READ THE FOLLOWING NOTE! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT! Ok. So I have a challenge for you. You must write a review saying who you think invited them to the manor, tell me what you think is about to happen, and...write the funniest joke you can think of. The deadline is the evening of July 19th. If I do not have at least THREE reviews that meet my demands, I will force you to wait until a whole week from now for an update. However, if there are three before the deadline, I will update very quick. Got all that? All right. Good luck and have fun. Write whatever crazy notion that pops into your head and thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**You guys are lucky some people actually read my author's notes. Thanks to GeekyGenious, estelle, Smiley-Nami, and Nicotomatohead for their reviews. You guys got me to post this chapter today, and the rest of the people reading this story owe them your gratitude. Thanks again. I hope you like this chapter.**

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 6: Seeking Warmth

_The cold wind was the only thing Ran could feel as she hugged herself tight. She wasn't sure why, but she was walking through what appeared to be a cemetery on a particularly cold and foggy night. She could barely see the ground before her, but some unknown force seemed to compel her to keep moving as if saying, "You're almost there. It won't be long now." _

_It wasn't long before she finally stopped in front of four graves. She could not see the names, but a powerful sense of fear overtook her as she approached the first one. The air around her seemed to get even colder, so it took her a moment to realize that the crunching sound her next step made was not on ice or snow._

_Stooping down, she discovered a watch, or to be more specific, Conan's watch. Sighing with relief for reasons unknown to her, she turned on the watches light. Instantly she wished she hadn't. _

_The name on the grave was her father's, and she could hear his suddenly terrifying and eerie voice calling her name in the distance. Ran jumped up quickly to run, but tripped and fell before the second and third graves. Two more voices joined her father's, and she stood again as she realized they belonged to Kazuha and Heiji. _

_Not wanting to know what the fourth grave had in store for her, she took off and kept running until she had to stop to catch her breath in the frigid air. That was when she spotted him._

_Shinichi lay unmoving on the ground; dressed in the clothes he had been wearing in Tropical Land. Ran called out to him as she dropped to her knees at his side, but she received no answer. For some reason this terrified her more than the voices of the others she had heard earlier, and she longed to hear his voice again as she tearfully rested his head in her lap._

_Ran closed her eyes and wept because her hands were as cold as his cheeks, and she knew she could never warm him up. Then, all of a sudden, a new voice was heard, and she opened her eyes to realize that she was sitting on a park bench in the sunlight._

_"Don't cry, Ran-neechan," the little voice said. She glanced down at the face of Conan laying in her lap the way she had just been holding Shinichi. "Don't cry. I'll come back to you. Even if I die. Wait for me no matter what, ok?" Then the world around them started to crumble..._

Ran bolted upright in her bed; gasping and shaking from what had been in her opinion a terrible nightmare. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself; unsure if it was the ghost stories, or Conan's absence, or how cold the room she was in actually was that had triggered her mind to conjure up something so frightening. The shaken girl got quickly out of bed and went into the bathroom; splashing her face with warm water to wake herself up more.

As she began to calm down, Ran sat down on the bathroom counter and began analyzing her dream. The detail that stuck out the most to her, was the absurdity of Conan's words. _"I'll come back to you. Even if I die..."_ He had spoken very similar words to her before, but he had told her that they were Shinichi's words, and he hadn't said them in the first-person narrative. _Why would he say it as if talking about himself?_

She shook her head quickly to drive away her thoughts about the little boy. Her concern had suddenly become focused on a certain high school detective, who had been dead in her dream, and she rushed to her door so she could go see him.

The door opened with a quiet creak, and Ran winced as she paused to make sure no one had heard it. Then she crept down the hallway. She knew exactly where she was going, and soon enough she stood in front of the room where Shinichi was supposed to be. Glancing around once more to make sure no one saw her, she slipped quietly into the room.

Instantly Ran was assaulted by the room's warmth, and she felt herself relax a little. The room was dark, but not dark enough to conceal the shirtless, sleeping teenager on the bed. Ran couldn't help but smile at her own paranoia. _Of course he's fine you idiot. Just look at him._ Then she blushed at the full revelation that Shinichi was in fact, shirtless, and was just about to turn away when something caught her eye.

It was a scar. A pink and fresh-looking scar that couldn't have been more than a few months old. A scar in the exact place where Conan had been shot. She suddenly remembered him asking her if she wanted to see it while he was still in the hospital, and the way she had fussed at him as soon as the words left his mouth. She had told him he was as bad as Shinichi. _It...it couldn't be...Could it?_

She couldn't help it. She suddenly had to know whether she was just imagining the scar or not, and she hesitantly reached forward to touch the blemish on his pale skin.

Unfortunately, Shinichi was too late to dodge her icy fingertips, so he sat up in surprise as she grazed his skin. Startled, and not really knowing if she had touched the scar or not, Ran yanked her hand back and held it to her chest.

Shinichi, after blinking a few times and rubbing his eyes, recognized her and turned on the lamp on his bedside table. By the time he had done so Ran was staring at the floor in embarrassment. She hadn't meant to wake him, and she especially hadn't meant to see his exposed torso. "What's the matter Ran?" he asked in a stage whisper; immediately worried about all the things that could be wrong.

She didn't say a word, so Shinichi stood up and lifted her chin to make her look at him. Ran felt even more ashamed at the panic in his eyes, and without realizing it, she began to cry. "I'm...I'm so sorry," she kept stammering between her quiet sobs. Shinichi was at a loss for words. He had seen her cry many times, but there was something disturbing in these tears. It was as if, without words, Ran was conveying shear terror, and he couldn't think of anything to ask or say that would soothe her. After a few minutes, he began to feel like she wouldn't stop crying unless he did something. So he grabbed his shirt, slipped it back on, and moved back in front of her.

He pulled her to him awkwardly; hoping she would be ok with his actions. Ran seemed to be somewhat comforted by his embrace though, and wrapped her shaking arms around him as she leaned her face against his chest. He gasped at how cold she was, but quickly recovered because he didn't want to alarm her. Eventually, her sobs became less frequent, but she began to lean more heavily on him as if she couldn't support herself.

Shinichi scooped her up before she could fall and laid her in his bed; gently tucking her in and sitting beside her. He watched her expression return to embarrassment, and her face flushed as she tried to sit up again. "I'm so sorry," she murmured again as he gently pushed her back down. "It was so cold, and you..you were-" Shinichi cut her off by putting his finger on her lips. The second she had mentioned him he knew she had had a nightmare.

"It was just a dream, Ran," he told her as if he were comforting a child. "Whatever you saw was not real." She nodded with closed eyes, and she didn't open them again until he lifted her cold hand in his warm one.

"You should have said something if your room was so cold," he told her sternly. Ran turned her face away from him, and he saw her lips beginning to quiver again. Shinichi mentally slapped himself. _That was the wrong thing to say. _

"I'm so sorry," she said again. "I just...I didn't mean to wake you up...I'm sorry." Guilt was the only feeling he knew at that moment. She had nothing to apologize for, and yet she couldn't stop apologizing to him. _If only she knew that I'M the one who should be begging for HER forgiveness. _He suddenly felt that he would break down himself out of guilt if he didn't get away, so he slowly started to stand up.

"Look Ran," he began nervously; trying to keep his voice from shaking. "I'll go sleep in your room, and you can stay in mine. I thought it was a little too warm for me in here anyway." As he tried to leave her, she once again grabbed ahold of his hand.

"Could you...maybe, stay here...with me?" Her request had been barely audible, and full of hesitation, but he still had that nagging feeling that he needed to do something for her. Shinichi swallowed hard; shoving away the lump in his throat. It was just one night, and he was willing to forget his feelings - just for her. He carefully removed her hand from his own, and went around the other side of the bed to lay down beside her.

He was going to sleep on top of the covers, but she insisted she didn't want him to get cold and made him get under the covers next to her. After a brief, awkward silence Ran finally seemed to be asleep, so Shinichi put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. He couldn't sleep though, and when he opened his eyes again he noticed that his childhood friend was suddenly closer to his side then she had been before. Not to mention she was laying on her side; giving him a clear view of her face.

He squeezed his eyes shut again. He tried to think of other things, but he couldn't focus. _Would you just turn over already?_ That was when he felt the whole bed shift with her movement, and he felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he felt her left arm draped across his chest. Her hand was gripping his right shoulder, and her head rested on his pillow; just below his arm.

The teen detective sighed. He saw only one thing he could do: try to get as comfortable as possible without waking her up. By the time he was finally asleep, he had his left arm around her in a sort of odd half-hug; his upper arm acting as her pillow. His right hand, he had let fall on top her wrist. That was how the next person who entered the room that night found the two teens.

He cursed inwardly. He couldn't do anything with the girl there. He didn't want anyone to see his face except Kudou Shinichi. He wanted him to be the only one to know the face of his murderer. _After all, a dead man can't get me thrown in prison. _

Deciding that he would have to think up a new way to get the teen alone, the figure snuck back out of the room.

**READ THIS NOTE!**

**Gotcha, didn't I? Yes, the person from my last chapter was Ran. I just wanted to be evil and mess with you guys. *smiles innocently* Yes. You now have my full permission to leave an angry review for what I just did. However, I still want your honest opinion on this chapter. Sorry if the dream sucked. I'm not exactly the best at writing dream sequences. I'm also sorry if Shinichi was a little OOC. I was trying to think of what he would do in a situation where he would have to comfort Ran, and I just couldn't resist giving them their little "moment." Anyway. Please review. Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this took so long. I've been quite busy, and the first time I wrote this chapter it came out horrible. No matter how many times I rewrite it though, I can't get it right so I apologize for this really bad chapter. **

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 7: Locked Doors and Muffled Screams

Kazuha was not normally an early riser, but the minute she saw sunlight streaming through the window she got up. She stood up and stretched in front of the window; cheerfully admiring the view of the open land before her. "Took you long enough," Heiji remarked. Kazuha whirled around in surprise, and almost backed into the window. He was standing in the middle of the room fully dressed for the day, and he raised his eyebrows at her when she jumped. He didn't expect her to look so terrified.

"How long have you been here?" she shouted. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" Heiji shrugged and sat down on her bed.

"No more than ten minutes," he replied. She frowned at him as if she didn't believe him though.

"Are you sure that's not just what you want me to think, you pervert!" Heiji stood back up. _Here we go again._

"Hold on. I may be a lot of things, but I am NOT a pervert." The teen folded his arms as he headed for the door. "Besides, who would want to watch YOU sleep anyway? You snore like a-" He was promptly interrupted by a pillow smacking his head.

"I DO NOT SNORE!" Kazuha bellowed; making Heiji suddenly feel like a small bug that she was preparing to crush. He backed away again, and then turned to run as Kazuha started hurling pillows and other miscellaneous objects at him. "GET OUT YOU MORON!" she cried as he shut the door behind him. He sighed in relief. _You don't have to tell ME twice._

"I only came to tell you they're serving breakfast downstairs," he called back cautiously; his comment rewarded by a growl and another object smashing into the door behind his back. Before she could yell any obscenities, he took off towards Shinichi's room. _Hopefully Kudou'll be more of a morning person._

When he reached Shinichi's room, he found the door open a few inches. "Uh Kudou?" he started nervously; hitting the door with his knuckles. When he got no answer, he pushed the door open a little further...only to immediately close it again. Heiji blinked for a few seconds. _What the hell? I must be seeing things._ The suddenly very curious teen opened the door again, and sure enough, he wasn't seeing things. Ran was curled up next to Shinichi, and he had his arm around her shoulders. Heiji pulled the door shut a second time. Then he started sniggering to himself. Taking a deep breath to stop his laughter, he pulled out his phone, and went into the room.

"Smile Kudou," he whispered mischievously as he snapped a photo of the sleeping teens. He went back out into the hallway again with a wide grin on his face. He started laughing again just as a still angry Kazuha approached him.

"What are you laughing about?" she began with anger. "I'm still-" Heiji silenced her with his hand; putting his finger to his lips to signal for her to be quiet. "What is it?" she whispered after shoving away his hand; her anger replaced by curiosity.

Instead of replying, Heiji simply opened the door again; pulling her into the doorway by her arm. Kazuha gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Did you take a picture?" she whispered after staring in shock for a moment. He nodded, and Kazuha entered the room. She got extremely close to the bed, took a deep breath, and then shouted out, "RISE AND SHINE LOVEBIRDS!" Ran shot up so fast that she smacked Shinichi in the face.

The startled girl glanced around quickly in surprise until her eyes came to rest on her grinning friend. "Kazuha...?" Ran was about to ask the other girl why she had said what she did when a groan sounded from beside her. Shinichi, sitting up, was rubbing the spot her fist had made contact with on his jaw, and Ran suddenly gasped as she realized what she'd done. "I'm so sorry Shinichi. I didn't mean to hit you. Let me see." Ran grabbed his chin from his hand.

"Ow!" he protested; grabbing her wrist. "Don't touch it!"

"You guys are too much," Kazuha laughed; causing both of them to turn red and release each other. Ran got out of the bed quickly.

"Hattori-kun didn't see, did he?" Ran asked her quietly so Shinichi wouldn't hear her. She knew they would never hear the end of it if Heiji had seen them, and she wasn't entirely sure if Kazuha would let it go either. Kazuha snuck a glance at the doorway Heiji was no longer standing in, and her smile got even wider.

"I won't tell him if you don't want me to," she promised with a wink which was not the least bit comforting. Ran frowned and turned back to Shinichi, who had let himself fall back onto the mattress with his arm over his eyes. He could sense her concerned stare though.

"It's fine Ran," he said before she could stammer out another apology. "A broken jaw is just what I needed to help wake me up." _Just the way every man wishes to start the day!_ Ran was about to say something else, but Kazuha took her hand and started leading her to the door.

"I think we should leave your drama queen boyfriend alone for a while, don't you?" Ran blushed again.

"It's not like that!" she insisted as the door closed behind them. Shinichi listened to their voices echoing in the hallway. Normally, he would have shouted out his protest in agreement with Ran, but he suddenly found that he couldn't. He knew the reason, but he still pondered over it until something cold and hard landed on his gut.

"She got you good, didn't she Kudou?" Heiji commented with a sly grin. Not amused, Shinichi sat up and picked up the ice pack that had been tossed at him. "Oh wow, she really did get you," he added at the sight of Shinichi's face. A dark-colored bruise was already appearing along his jawline, and Heiji suddenly felt grateful that none of the things Kazuha had thrown at him earlier had hit their intended target.

Shinichi just got up with a sigh and went into the bathroom with his bag; closing the door behind him. He was not in the mood for joking around, but he couldn't help but agree with his friend when he looked in the mirror. _Great. Now she'll be worried all day._ "When do you want to ask the director about the notes?" he asked; attempting to change the subject.

"I already told you we would ask him at breakfast," Heiji retorted. "You're just trying to change the subject."

"No, I forgot," Shinichi said.

"Sure you did." Shinichi could almost feel the other boy grinning outside the bathroom door.

"I didn't exactly plan on Ran showing up the middle of the night, you know."

"I believe you," Heiji replied sarcastically.

"She said her room was freezing and she wouldn't let me just swap rooms with her, ok?" Heiji didn't respond until Shinichi had opened the door again to find him sitting on the floor.

"That was it, eh?" he said as he stood and walked to middle of the room. Shinichi kicked his bag so it flew into the other boy's back; knocking him down to the floor. Then he left the room; shoving his hands in his pockets as he went. "Oh come on, Kudou!" Heiji called out as he ran to catch up. "I was only kidding. You really do need this ice pack though."

The young detective sighed and reluctantly took the ice pack; pressing it against his face as they went downstairs. Following, the sound of people talking, coupled with the aroma of coffee, the two teens made their way to the dining room they had eaten in the previous night. As they entered, Kazuha stood up to wave enthusiastically to them; looking the most lively out of the five people also seated in the room.

"You don't have to wave like an idiot," Heiji said to her as he took a seat across from her. "We could see you from the door." Kazuha stuck her tongue out in response as Shinichi sat down across from Ran. He didn't really look at her, and she didn't really look at him as the other two bickered beside them. They were both too embarrassed to face each other. Finally, noticing the ice pack, Ran spoke up and met his eyes.

"Is it really that bad?" she asked sheepishly. It was obvious she was trying her best to start up some form of conversation between them to not look suspicious to their friends, so Shinichi decided to play along.

"You're the karate champion," he replied; setting down the ice pack. "You tell me." Ran bit her lip and stared at the ugly mark.

"Sorry."

"Wow," Kazuha suddenly interjected. "She hit you harder than I thought." Ran looked down at her plate in shame, and just as the silence that followed started becoming awkward, the director entered with the remaining guests. Shinichi stood up slowly as the director greeted his guests and sat down.

"Let's go Hattori," he murmured to the side as Heiji stood up.

"Wait. Where are you going?" Kazuha demanded. Ran just gazed up at Shinichi sadly; begging him with her eyes to make sure he came back. She had had enough experiences of him disappearing on her, and she suddenly feared that he would do it again.

"Don't worry," he responded for Heiji. "We're just going to talk to the director for a minute. We're not even leaving the room." Ran sighed with relief, and managed a small smile as the pair of detectives walked away. She knew he was really telling only her not to worry. He was letting her know that he would come back, and he wasn't going to vanish on her again.

Shinichi pulled his note out of his pocket as they approached the director. "What can I do for you boys?" the man asked jovially. Heiji, who always enjoyed being the spokesperson, fished his own note out and handed it to the director.

"We were hoping you could tell us who sent these notes," he said. Shinichi handed his over as well, and the old man read through both of them quickly.

"I'm not sure where they came from," the director responded as he handed back the notes. Then he leaned over as if sharing a secret with them. "Perhaps the Weeping Woman wrote them. You'd better watch your backs. It is said that she loves to prey on young people." Both teens sighed in annoyance and exchanged a glance. _Mystery solved then._

"Thank you for your time, Director," Shinichi said; turning to go.

"Wait boy. What happened to your face? You look as if you were in a fight." Heiji leaned over and whispered something in the director's ear, which resulted in a knowing smile that lit up his whole face. "I see. Women can be troublesome sometimes, can't they?"

Frowning at Heiji, Shinichi turned on his heel and went back to sit with the girls. _I'll get you back somehow Hattori._

About twenty minutes later, the director silenced everyone, and told them that he would be giving a tour of the manor's interior to anyone who was interested. Ran and Kazuha looked at each other, and then turned to face the teen detectives. "Heiji," Kazuha said with her sweetest smile. "We really want to go."

"Besides, I thought you were here to investigate this place," Ran added; her embarrassment suddenly forgotten. The two girls smiled, and it was obvious that the boys had no choice in the matter.

Two hours later they hadn't even gotten through the first floor. The speed they were going through each room was painfully slow, and the director wasn't helping by taking his time unlocking and locking all the doors to the rooms as they viewed them. Finally, they were two rooms away from the stairs, and they entered a room that looked as if it belonged in a medieval castle.

The only light in the room came from the window at the end of a long row of knights' armor, weapons, and tapestries. The director reached over to put on the lights of the chandeliers he had had installed in the room, and his brow furrowed in confusion when nothing happened. "That's odd," he said. "The lights won't turn on." Sighing, he closed the door again and faced the guests after locking it. "So sorry ladies and gentlemen," he said. "The lights are not working in this room right now. I'll have someone look into them later. Please follow me."

As the rest of the small group followed the director, Shinichi lagged behind; staring in concentration at the closed doors. Something wasn't right, but he wasn't sure what it was that made him think so. Perhaps it was that feeling of being watched that had bothered him the previous day, or maybe...

"Shinichi?" Ran called softly; tearing him away from his thoughts as he looked at her. "What's wrong? We're going into the next room now." He smiled reassuringly at her, but she winced at the way his smile had shown off his bruise. It didn't look as bad as it had earlier, but she still felt bad about it, and she knew it probably hurt.

Without realizing it, Ran had moved directly in front of him, and was tentatively reaching up to touch the dark mark she had left on his jaw. She didn't touch him though, and without saying anything else, hurried away to the other room. He didn't follow her at first; too shocked to do so. He wasn't shocked by her actions though. He was shocked by his own. He had made no move to stop her from touching him. _She was so close...I almost kissed her._ Shinichi shook away his thoughts, and joined the rest of the group in the room.

The lights had apparently worked in this one. There may have been no windows in the room, but it was as bright as if the sun were shining directly into it. Bookshelves lined the walls from corner to corner; each one a little taller than the average person, and covered with glass to protect their contents. In the middle of the room sat a desk, which had been covered in papers and antique writing utensils.

Shinichi wandered aimlessly around the room; laughing to himself as he watched Kazuha dragging Heiji along with her to see everything. Then he noticed Ran standing alone in front of one of the shelves, and he walked over to her.

"These books are so old," she murmured absentmindedly; as if she weren't really speaking to him, but to the books themselves. "It's no wonder they're kept behind glass." She didn't say anything after that, and he joined her in her silent gazing. He let his eyes roam over all the titles, and even though he recognized none of them, he felt the same content feeling from the day before wash over him. He was with Ran, and he was not a child. That was all he needed.

All of a sudden, the door slammed as if by magic, and the room instantly went silent at the sound. A few clicks followed, and one woman ran quickly to the door. "It's locked!" she cried. The director started to move towards the woman, but the lights went out before he could even get halfway across the floor. The room was not just dark though. It was so black that Shinichi couldn't even see the silhouettes of the other people in the room, and he knew Ran couldn't see either as she touched his arm and then clumsily wrapped her arms around it. Then came the sound of a door opening, but it was too close to be the door they came in from.

He was just about to say something to her when a hand covered his mouth and yanked him backwards out of her grasp. The movement was so unexpected and so fast that he couldn't fight back, and he promptly heard a door close in front of him as he was released and he fell on his backside.

Ran gasped as she felt his arm slip out of her embrace, and the sound of a door closing nearby made her blood run cold. "Shinichi?" she called out among the sounds of the other guests' panicked voices. "Shinichi!"

"Ran?" It was Kazuha's voice, and she turned around to find her friend holding up her mobile phone like a flashlight. Ran shielded her eyes, and Kazuha lowered the phone so the light wouldn't seem so intense. The other occupants of the room seemed to get similar ideas, and they pulled out their own phones and some, including the director, pulled out their lighters.

"I wonder what happened," Kazuha murmured as the director began pushing past his guests to get to the door. Everyone watched as he tried and failed to get the door open; all except Ran, who had taken out her own phone to look for Shinichi. She counted the number of lights in the room, and sighed in relief as she saw one moving toward them. It wasn't Shinichi though. It was Heiji, who was glancing around warily in the darkness as he got close to them.

"Are you guys ok?" he asked.

"No," Ran answered immediately as she turned to face him. "I can't find Shinichi. He was standing right next to me and now he's gone." Heiji's expression changed into concern, and he too, counted all the lights in the room.

"Are you sure he was next to you?" Kazuha asked uncertainly.

"Of course I'm sure. When the lights went out I grabbed his arm, and then..." Ran trailed off as she fully remembered what had happened. "It was as if he was pulled away," she finished quietly; as if she was talking to herself. "Then there was the sound of a door closing." Just as the words left her mouth, they heard the sounds again. This time, it seemed a little more muffled, and the closing of the door followed right after the opening. "That was the sound!" Ran exclaimed; whirling around to face the wall of shelves from which the sound had come.

"I'll go look around the room for Kudou," Heiji finally said. "You two stay here." Then he hurried away, and Kazuha placed a shaking hand on Ran's shoulder.

"What if it was...What if it was the ghost? What if it took him?" she said. Ran curled her hand into a fist and took a deep breath; remembering what Shinichi had told her once when they were younger. _"You shouldn't be afraid of the dead, Ran. They can't hurt you. It's the living you have to be worried about."_ She shook her head.

"No," she said with determination. Her hands were shaking as she reached up to touch the glass covered bookcase before her though, and she felt colder inside than she had felt in her nightmare. Ghost or no ghost, she knew something was seriously wrong.

"I can't find him," Heiji said as he returned to them. "The door won't open either so it looks like we'll be stuck here for a bit unless we find another way out." He moved to stand beside Ran, and he shined the light of his phone at the bookshelves. "You said you heard the sounds of a door opening and closing over here?"

Ran nodded. "The second time it happened was when you were here." Heiji nodded back at her. He had heard the muffled sound through the wall, and the possibilities swarmed in his mind. Suddenly, they heard another sound. It was a loud crash, and the first thing that came to Heiji's mind was the armor of the knights in the neighboring room. Heiji quickly moved toward the others, whose noisy chatter prevented them from hearing the sound. _It must be coming from that room, but I have to be sure._

"Everyone shut up!" he shouted. The room went quiet, and for a few seconds the only sound came from everyone's breathing and the director trying to get one of the maids to answer the landline phone so they could be let out. Then there was another crash, and with it came a cry of pain that made Heiji's heart pump faster.

"Shinichi," Ran whispered; confirming his fear. He quickly ran back to the wall; only stopping to tell everyone to keep trying to get out.

The sounds behind the wall continued, and Heiji started running his fingers down the edge of the glass between each bookcase. Ran and Kazuha started feeling along the edges too; attempting to find something that might help them get through to the next room. The longer they stood there, the more Ran's heart filled with dread. Then there was another cry, and Ran choked back a sob at the sound of his voice.

"Shinichi!" she cried; hitting her hand against the glass in frustration when she received no answer. She could feel the fear and concern of the other people nearby, but she didn't care. All that mattered was getting to him. Then came another sound that she didn't think she could ever forget. It was the sound of something smacking into the wall on the other side, and each hit was accompanied by a cry of pain.

Finally, a new light filled the room as the maid opened the door from the outside. The director went out first, and Ran pushed past the other seven people by the door to follow him. She could hear Kazuha calling her name, but she didn't turn back, and she joined the director as he stood fumbling with his keys at the door to the other room. Heiji suddenly appeared behind her, and the rest of the group crowded around to see what would happen.

Then he screamed, and Ran felt like she had been stabbed through the heart. It was a short cry, but it was loud and agonized. _No. No. Please no._ The director had frozen in terror at the sound with the key in the lock, and Ran shoved him out of the way; opening the door and running in.

"Shinichi!" she called into the room. Her eyes darted around the room until they came to rest on the place where a knight's set of armor had once been, and she screamed.

**Ok, so maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. However, it was still a badly written chapter, and I am so sorry I can't really make it better. Please tell me what you think. Thanks.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took longer than I thought it would. I hope you like it. Please tell me what you think. **

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 8: Vengeful Murder

He was just about to say something to her when a hand covered his mouth and yanked him backwards out of her grasp. The movement was so unexpected and so fast that he couldn't fight back, and he promptly heard a door close in front of him as he was released and he fell on his backside.

He jumped up immediately; ready for a fight, but the room where he was was just as dark as the room he had just come from. "Shinichi?" he heard Ran call in a frightened voice. "Shinichi!"

Shinichi would've answered her, but he was too busy trying to find a way out. He listened to the muffled voices of his friends on the other side of the wall, and just when he thought he had found the correct wall to get back to them, a light shown from behind him as another door opened. He whirled around quickly, and shielding his eyes from the sudden glare, he ran through the open door as it fell closed.

It didn't take him long to realize that he was in the room they hadn't gone in. The only difference was that the lights were working, and the chandeliers on the ceiling lit up the whole room. He had heard Ran shout something else through the wall, but he hadn't been able to discern it. As he gazed around the room filled with armor, a new voice spoke.

"Looks like you're not as smart as I thought you were," it taunted. The young detective faced the door he had gone through again to find the source of the voice. "You walked right into my little trap... Kudou Shinichi." The owner of the voice was a man who seemed to be in his thirties. He had short, unkept, black hair, and his blue eyes shown with pure hatred for the boy standing before him. That was when Shinichi recognized him.

"Naoki-san..." he breathed. _Why would HE want to trap me though? He has no criminal record of any kind. His sister is the one who is a murderer. Unless..._ Naoki seemed to notice Shinichi's expression and he grinned.

"That's right. You got my sister thrown in prison, you murderer." _Murderer?_ "She would still be alive if you hadn't gotten her put in jail. She is dead. She is dead, and you're going to join her!" It was then that Shinichi noticed the spike-covered mace gripped tightly in Naoki's gloved hands, and he had just enough time to jump out of the way as the vengeful man swung it at him. **(AN:A mace is a medieval weapon.)** The mace hit the armor of a nearby knight, and sent all the pieces flying across the room with a clatter.

Naoki growled in frustration and Shinichi scrambled across the floor to get the shield that had flown a short distance away from him. He turned back around with the shield held at the ready when he heard Heiji shout for everyone to be quiet, and he was about to shout out the other boy's name when the mace smacked into the shield, which caved at the point of impact and hit his right side; knocking him to the floor and taking his breath away as he cried out in pain.

_That'll hurt a lot, but at least I didn't hear any of my ribs crack._ He didn't have time to really catch his breath or move before Naoki was standing over him; bringing down the mace on the shield over and over again. Shinichi used his left arm to support the shield in the center, and moved it around quickly so it wouldn't cave in again while he tried to slide away across the floor.

The pressure on his wrist was nearly unbearable though as the mace continued to pound into the shield; making more dents on the metal, but fortunately not causing too much damage to the young detective beneath it. Just when Shinichi was about to roll away and stand up, there was a sharp pain on the side of his thigh and he cried out once again.

"Shinichi!" he heard Ran call out desperately from the other side of the wall. Naoki laughed at him and backed off; giving Shinichi enough time to yank out the empty syringe sticking out of his leg, and get to his feet. The world seemed to topple and spin though, and the teen knew he would not be able to withstand another attack like the first in the condition whatever had been in the syringe was putting him in.

"Won't be long now," Naoki teased as Shinichi stumbled while trying to back up. He tried to glance around on the room for some type of weapon, but the colors in the room all seemed to be blending together; mocking him for his stupidity. Then he dropped the shield as he realized the pain his left wrist had been in was gone; replaced by a numbness that made him briefly question whether or not his arm had been cut off.

He felt himself hit the floor as his legs gave out. He had lost all feeling in them, and they couldn't support his weight. The numb feeling was growing and spreading, and reality set in. _I can't do anything to stop this._ Shinichi was not afraid though. He was angry. Angry, as he always was when something was happening and he had no control over it. It was like when he had shrunk for the first time; thinking he was dying, and being so angry because he knew there was nothing he could do to change it.

As he started to fall forward, Naoki grabbed him by his throat and hauled him over to the secret door to the other room. "I hope your girlfriend enjoys hearing you scream," he said. _Ran...I have to get her attention. I have to tell her..._ SMACK!

The left side of his head hit the wall hard; bringing him back to the situation at hand, and making him finally notice that he had been propped up against the wall in a sitting position. Shinichi blinked a few times; the room coming back into focus as he did. He had regained his vision, but it was hard to move because Naoki was gripping him by his hair on the right side of his head. Not to mention half his body was completely numb.

SMACK! Shinichi released a cry of pain as his head hit again, and he felt warm blood begin to trickle down his face. The crazed man laughed as he shoved the teen's head into the wall repeatedly; speaking a word between each hit and yelp of pain.

"She" SMACK! "suffered" SMACK! "and" SMACK! "now" SMACK! "you" SMACK! "will" SMACK! "suffer!" SMACK!

After one final blow, Shinichi felt like his head was going to explode. He knew he had a concussion, and he blinked rapidly to keep his eyes open and aware of his surroundings. Then he felt a tug on his right arm; one of the few places left where he could still feel anything, and moved his eyes to see Naoki uncapping another syringe as he pulled down Shinichi's sleeve from the shoulder. He wasn't about to let the man give him some other kind of drug or poison though, so he quickly jerked back his shoulder.

It turned out to be a huge mistake though, and he screamed in agony as the needle went into the front of his shoulder instead of his arm. He heard Naoki curse under his breath and someone fiddling with the lock on the door to the room's main entrance. Naoki jumped to his feet, broke the syringe away from the needle stuck in the detective's shoulder, and dropped a piece of paper on the floor as he fled into the secret room behind the door Shinichi was leaning on.

Shinichi knew he had only a few seconds left as he felt his breathing grow more shallow, so he quickly grabbed his face with his right hand, forced his head to face the opposite direction it had been facing, and as his arm dropped he used the blood he had gotten on his fingers to draw an arrow on the ground pointing to the door behind him.

Then he suddenly found he could move no longer, and as his whole body went limp in its leaning position his hand slid over the top of the arrow; blocking it from view. _Shit._ Then his breathing seemed to almost stop altogether, and he could no longer see his chest rising. He could still see and hear though, and immediately found that he couldn't close his eyes; or even make them look up from where he was staring down at his hand.

"Shinichi!" he heard Ran yell out again as she burst into the room. Her voice was much more clear than he thought it would be. Is this what death is actually like? He wanted to answer her, but he knew he couldn't, which made her scream ten times worse to listen to. Shinichi couldn't see her, but he heard her drop to her knees nearby as she started to cry. He physically couldn't take his eyes off his hand, and he mentally cursed his body for not being able to move and embrace her; to tell her that everything would be ok and that what she was seeing wasn't real.

He wanted to tell her not to cry because he wasn't dead, but he wasn't sure himself if that would be just another lie or not. He had lied to her so much already, and it broke his heart to know that he could not tell her one last lie and one last truth: the lie that everything would be fine, and the truth of how much he loved her.

"Kudou!" the startled voice of Hattori Heiji joined Ran's anguished cries. He listened to Heiji's hurried footsteps as he approached, and he could only continue to look down the way he had been doing as the other boy lifted his head up to take his pulse. _This is it. I'm about to find out if I'm dead or alive._ Shinichi could not feel the fingers on his neck, but he knew they were there. He could see the desperation in Heiji's sad, green eyes. They seemed to beg and to plead with him to give him just one heartbeat, to breathe, to live.

He could also see Ran's face as Heiji's expression suddenly changed from desperation to the shock and terror he had witnessed many people show at a murder case. There was pure grief in Ran's eyes. As each sob and shaking breath seemed to tear itself from her throat, he knew that she had known he was gone the second she had spotted him. He knew all the thoughts that passed through her mind in that moment when Heiji let his head fall back to its position.

In that instant he knew that he would never forget the anguish in Ran's eyes, or the sound of her scream, or even Heiji's pained expression as he reached over and closed the eyes of the Great Detective of the East with his fingers.

**And now you know where the summary quote thing came from. Yep. It finally happened. DON'T GO AWAY THOUGH. This story is far from over! Once again, you have permission to leave an angry review. Honest opinions though. Please. Thanks for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

**This is a very dramatic chapter in my opinion. LOTS OF EMOTIONS. If this displeases you, sorry. You will just have to read it anyway... You know you want to... Anyway, here it is. **

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 9

Kazuha pushed past the other guests who were trying to get into the room. The director was doing a good job of keeping them in the hall though. After all, the group was small so it couldn't be too hard to handle. Recognizing her face, he let her go in. She gasped and held her hand to her mouth at the scene before her. Ran was sobbing on the floor not far from Heiji, who seemed frozen in place kneeling in front of an eerily still Kudou Shinichi.

She swallowed hard as tears sprung into her eyes. She didn't know Shinichi very well, but she could see how devastated Ran was and it was terrifying and horrible to her to see someone her age dead. Kazuha quickly wiped her eyes though as her gaze drifted over to Heiji once more. She knew he and Shinichi were close friends; even though if anyone mentioned it they would probably deny it. She also knew that Heiji tended to respond to bad situations with anger. But Kazuha had known him for so long that she knew all his anger was was a perfectly crafted mask to hide every other feeling from sight.

"Heiji," she murmured timidly as she slowly approached him. At the sound of his name she registered a flicker of movement. His hands curled into fists and he stood up slowly. His back was too her, but she knew what his face would look like before he even turned around. Sure enough, as he faced her, his expression was stony and immovable; pure suppressed rage flashing in his eyes, and a coldness that made her skin crawl.

"Call the police Kazuha," he ordered as he moved to her. She knew what he was doing as he took her arm and led her to the door; barking out orders to have the director get everyone back into the room next-door as he went. He was distancing himself from the situation; allowing the detective in him to take over, and completing his perfect mask that fooled anyone who saw it except her.

"Heiji what about R-"

"I'll take care of her," he snapped back as he released her roughly. "Just do as I say." He turned back and approached the distraught girl on the floor; making Kazuha worried that he might make the situation worse for the girl. "And tell them to bring Mouri-san," he added; glancing back at her briefly. All she could do was nod as she pulled out her phone and stepped away from the commotion of the director and the maid getting the other guests to go back into the room they had just been locked in. In that brief glance though, the mask seemed to crack. It wasn't as strong as it had been a moment before, and she knew it wouldn't take much to break it.

Heiji, unaware of these thoughts found Ran hesitantly brushing a shaking thumb across Shinichi's bloody cheek. She pulled back at the sound of his footsteps though, and spoke quietly as he stopped right behind her. "He told me...he said..." she sobbed out; her voice barely rising above a whisper. "He said that it was just a dream...that what I saw wasn't real..."

Heiji didn't say anything, but he felt crushed and guilty for making fun of Shinichi earlier that morning, who through all his teasing had not revealed Ran's real reasons for going to him. "He lied to me again," she continued unexpectedly as her sobs became weaker. "He had no way of knowing though so I guess it's not his fault."

Although Heiji didn't entirely understand why Ran was saying such things, he understood the lost look she had in her eyes as he crouched down beside her. She seemed almost confused; still refusing to believe what she saw. Then she lifted up her shaking hand and stared at her fingers; setting off a whole new round of sobbing as she gazed at the blood on them. Heiji wordlessly took her by the arm and led her out of the room; leaving her with the maid in the hallway, and instructing the director to not let anyone leave the room unless the police said otherwise when they arrived.

Then he went back into the room; standing in the middle and glancing everywhere but at Shinichi. His gaze could not help but land on his fallen friend though, and he shook his head to try and clear it as he stared down at the dented shield laying on the floor nearby. _"Focus Hattori," his voice commanded. "There is only ONE truth, and YOU have to find it."_

Detectives Satou and Takagi walked in silence to Takagi's car. Anyone who had heard what had happened seemed to share this shocked silence, but Satou knew she would not be allowed to remain quiet for long. They were heading to the scene where the famous high school detective Kudou Shinichi had just been murdered, and she had been assigned the task of informing Professor Agasa of his death so the professor could contact the teen's parents. She had been told that he was the most likely person to know how to get in touch with them. That didn't make it any easier though, and Takagi couldn't help but notice her brow furrowed in concentration as she thought about what she would say.

He, along with every other policeman, knew that one of the hardest parts of the job was having to tell family members that their child or spouse or other relative would not be coming home ever again. Takagi didn't want Satou to have to do it. She had felt the pain of loss before, and he knew it was always twice as hard for her to do this part of their job as it was for him. He looked over at his partner as they stopped on opposite sides of his car. "Satou-san," he said firmly. "I'll make the call. You can drive while I talk to the professor."

He witnessed a ghost of a smile appear and disappear from her face, and she shook her head at him. "I've got it Takagi-kun," she insisted as she opened the passenger door. "I'll probably do a better job than you anyway." He hesitated for a moment, but then joined her in the car as she pulled out her phone. _She's probably right._ He sneaked a glance at her as he started the car, and she put the phone up to her ear. She was strong; much stronger then he was. _She'll be ok._

Haibara was sitting at the professor's kitchen table with a book when the phone rang, and she rolled her eyes when Agasa called from the bathroom for her to answer it. "Hello," she said quietly as she put the receiver up to her ear.

"Ai-chan?" she heard Satou question. "This is Detective Satou. Is the professor around?" Said professor was just coming out of the bathroom, and Haibara handed him the phone without a word. He frowned at her for not telling him who he was about to speak with, but took the phone anyway. Then she sat back down at the table to observe him. She watched his face turn from its normal pleasant look to something much more sad and shocked. There were exclamations on his end of the conversation, and she got a sinking feeling in her stomach. _Something's wrong._

"Yes, I'll tell them," the professor finally said as he hung up. He just stood by the phone for a moment; not even moving when Haibara suddenly stood in front of him. Little did she know, the professor felt as if he had just lost a grandchild. He had known Shinichi since he was born, and he suddenly realized that he was more fond of him than he originally thought.

"What happened?" Haibara asked; instantly on the alert. She knew something was up, and Agasa knew she wouldn't leave him alone until she got answers. He repeated, for the first of three times he would have to that day, the vague details Detective Satou had given him regarding Shinichi's demise. The police themselves didn't know much since they hadn't been to the scene yet, but the detective had promised she would call again later to fill in the gaps.

When he had finished speaking, Haibara remained still for a moment. Memories swirled through her mind of all the people she had lost, but Shinichi stuck out before them all. The mini scientist shook her head and took off running to the room that served as her laboratory; slamming the door behind her. She wanted to cry, but she held in her tears; settling for screaming instead. She let out a loud, long cry and then dropped down on her hands and knees; attempting to breathe correctly.

She felt like she had been shot and something inside had been ripped out as the bullet went through her small body. _Stupid! Idiot! He's so stupid!_ Haibara's breath caught in her throat as she realized with horror that his death was not entirely his own fault. She had given him what he needed to accept the invitation, and guilt consumed her once more as she felt the heavy weight of the little container in her pocket. _The cure. I've had it for over a month, but I could never bring myself to give it to him. I gave him empty promises and painful lies instead._ She let the weight of her guilt literally pull her down to the floor, and she lay there; screaming on the inside as she tried to hold back her tears.

The professor did not try to go after her. He knew that she would only push him away, and he had a very important and dreadful phone call to make. He picked up the receiver and put it back down four times before finally dialing the long-distance number to the Kudou's American apartment. He almost didn't want them to answer, and he silently pleaded that if anyone answered it would be Yusaku. He couldn't imagine having to tell Yukiko that her only child was dead, and he knew if Yusaku answered he wouldn't have to listen to her pain.

Kudou Yukiko sat very bored in one of two cozy armchairs that occupied her apartment. She was waiting for her husband to finish his work and come home, and she yawned loudly as she glanced out the window at the sunset. She couldn't help but laugh to herself as she remembered another time when she had been waiting for the same reason; except that time she had had her five-year old son sitting with her just outside their front door. Her beautiful smile only grew bigger as she remembered how she had marveled at Shinichi's tiny hands as he spoke to her; his big blue eyes full of the life and wonder she had always loved to see in them.

A frown suddenly replaced her smile though, and she suddenly felt something different that she couldn't identify. _Why does this happy memory give me such a bad feeling?_ Yukiko stood up and shook her head to push away her thoughts as the phone rang in the hallway. Stretching lazily as she walked to the phone, the feeling only grew worse. Her fingertips barely touched the top of the phone, and her heart began to pound. _It's just a phone! What are you so afraid of?_ The object in question continued to strike fear into her heart as it demanded her attention, so she finally picked up the receiver to hopefully relieve herself of her fear.

"Hello?" she answered in English; unable to comprehend the terror that still seemed to clutch and bite at her soul. She heard a heavy sigh on the other end; followed by a familiar voice.

"Yukiko?" Professor Agasa started hesitantly. Her heart pounded faster in her chest.

"What happened?" she blurted out immediately; suddenly panic-stricken by the sound of the professor's voice. The words exchanged afterwards would haunt her for the rest of her life, and before the man even had the chance to finish his story she had slid down to floor with her back against the wall. Her body seemed to move of its own accord in its newly shocked state, and she found the phone falling from her hand and clattering onto the floor beside her.

"Shin-chan," she whispered quietly; as if speaking her son's name could bring him back to life. Tears began to stream down her cheeks as the full realization hit her, and she burst into a fit of sobbing and wailing that could come only from the pain of a mother's loss. No longer would she see the piercing bright eyes she had just been thinking of, or the face of the handsome young man she had watched him grow up to become. All of her feelings of guilt and anger, grief and hatred, and worst of all, regret seemed to be blending together, and she had no control of the nearly inhuman cries coming from her throat.

She suddenly heard murmuring voices and a knocking on the door. The neighbors had heard her, but she didn't care. They couldn't take away her pain, so she didn't see any reason to respond to them. Then there was a new voice added to the others, and she let out a particularly loud cry as she heard the door being unlocked. It was an angry cry; anger directed at the owner of the voice who had allowed their son to stay in danger.

"Yukiko?" His concerned voice called, and she watched him drop the papers and the bag he was holding as he rushed to her side. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Why?" she screamed at him; leaning into his chest and hitting his shoulder with her fist. "Why did you let him stay? ...Why?" Her pleas soon morphed into incomprehensible sobs, and Yusaku held tightly to his distressed wife as he picked up the phone she had dropped. It was obvious something had happened to their son, but he knew he wouldn't get anything from Yukiko so he listened carefully as the professor explained to him with a voice of remorse what had happened.

He told the man they would be on the next available flight to Tokyo, and hung up the phone. Kudou Yusaku did not often display many emotions. He was always a very light-hearted man, and he usually kept his feelings hidden from even his wife. In that moment though, he could only grieve like any other parent would, but he kept his grief quiet as he tried to calm his wife.

Haibara had put her hands over her ears as she remained motionless on the floor. It did nothing to help silence the voice of Shinichi in her head, but the force of her hands against her ears held her together, and she was able to keep her tears at bay. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt the need to hold in her emotions, but she had a hunch that she knew she had no right to mourn him. She had ruined his life, lied continually to him, and all he had done in return was offer her kindness and safety. He had protected her and kept her from death so many times, and just as it had done with her best friend, death had swept Kudou Shinichi away with its icy fingertips.

"Ai-kun," the professor called softly as he opened the door. She could almost feel the look he had on his face at finding her in such a pitiful state. She sighed and sat up on the floor; pulling her knees up to her chest.

"They're just like each other," she mumbled.

"Who?"

"Takashi and Kudou-kun... They both did so much for me...and they were both murdered." The professor didn't ask her anything else, and she could tell in the heavy silence that he understood who Takashi was. The old man only got down on the floor beside; letting her know that she wasn't alone.

As Satou hung up the phone, Takagi snuck another glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Her eyes seemed to have lost their normal light and joy, and sported a haunted and sorrowful look. He could tell she was thinking of her father's death. She always got that look in her eyes when she finished making a call to a victim's family. Discretely, he took one hand off the wheel and placed it on top of hers; comforting her without words. She smiled sadly as she intertwined her fingers with his. _This is why I love you. You always know the right thing to do._

Kazuha found Heiji staring down at the floor in the middle of the room. She would've stayed in the hall with Ran to comfort her, but she knew Ran wasn't the only person in need of comfort. She moved to stand directly behind him, and she took one of his clenched fists in her hand. He turned around to face her submissively, and when she lifted his chin she saw the tattered and torn remains of his facade. Tears welled up in her eyes as she wiped away the stray tear that slid down Heiji's cheek with her thumb. Then he leaned his forehead against her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around him and held him.

She felt a laugh forming in her throat at the absurdity of their position. _This is probably one of the longest moments we've ever gone without bickering._ She shoved it down though; knowing how wrong it would be to laugh as her eyes wandered over to Shinichi's body. She took a deep breath, and ran her fingers through Heiji's hair. "You have to solve it Heiji," she whispered. "You can do it. I believe in you."

**Aaaaaaahhhhh! The emotions! Ok. YES I KNOW THE ENDING OF THIS CHAPTER IS ABRUPT, but you will just have to live with it. Please tell me what you think. I put a lot of effort into this chapter and I really would like some feedback. Thanks again for reading.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow. This took forever. I am so wholeheartedly sorry. I recently started school again, and I struggled a little bit with this chapter. Because of school, and the fact that three of my classes are college level courses, my updates will take longer (as you can see.) I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Oh, and by the way, THIS IS MY VERY FIRST MYSTERY STORY, SO PLEASE DON'T BE CRUEL IF THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS SUCK! Anyway, thanks for reading. Once again, so sorry for the delay.**

**I do not own Detective Conan**

Chapter 10: A Case to Solve

Heiji slowly lifted his head off of Kazuha's shoulder. He wasn't sure how long he had allowed her to hold him like that, but he knew she was right. He was a detective, and he had a case to solve. When their eyes met again, he smiled sadly, and she nodded in response before she left the room once again to be with Ran. Ran nearly bumped into her at the door though; sporting a new look of determination and anger on her somewhat composed face. She walked right up to Heiji and held out her closed fist. Then, without a word, she opened her hand to reveal a crumpled piece of paper.

"I found this," she started; her voice hesitant and still thick with tears. "It was on the floor right next to-" Ran stopped and took a shaking breath as she looked over at the lifeless detective again. Then she turned back to Heiji so she wouldn't lose her composure again; gesturing for him to take the crumpled ball of paper from her hand. He did as he was told, and quickly uncurled it to read it.

It said, "The sun has set, and the winter tragedy is complete."

"What does it mean Hattori-kun?" Ran demanded. He didn't answer. He couldn't. Not when he felt so stupid. He crumpled the paper again in his own hands; his anger flaring up once more. _I'll catch this bastard. I swear I will_. "Tell me," she added.

"I don't know," Heiji murmured. It was not the truth. The truth was, and never had been, his to tell.

"Don't you dare lie t-"

"I said I don't know!" Ran looked hurt and slightly betrayed at Heiji's outburst. She didn't believe him. She had lost all faith in the words that people said to her, and she could never tell when someone was lying to her or not. The girl let it go though as she felt tears welling back up in her eyes. The room suddenly seemed too small for her - despite how large it was, so she rejoined Kazuha at the door as quickly as she could.

Heiji almost wished they would come back though. He had never felt so incredibly alone in his life. There had been many cases before where it was just himself and the corpse until the police arrived, but this was different. The case was personal, and all the anger and guilt and sorrow seemed to set his entire body on fire with an urge to destroy everything around him. Heiji squeezed his eyes shut. _Back away. Be an outsider. Be a detective. That is your job. Focus._

When he opened his eyes again he had to close them once more. _I can't look at him_.

_"That's not an excuse,"_ a familiar voice suddenly said in Heiji's mind; causing a chill to make its way down his spine.

_Shut up. Get out of my head._

_"You're the one imagining me. I only know what you know. I'm just trying to get you going."_

_Well guess what? You're dead, and I didn't ask for any damn motivation._

_"Well you have to start investigating at SOME point."_ The voice paused, and Heiji could almost picture Kudou Shinichi standing beside him with his chin in his hand, and a grave and solemn expression on his face. _"Since you can't seem to bring yourself to check out the victim, why not start with the killer?" _

_Idiot. How am I supposed to do that? It could be anyone who lives or works in this house. _

_"Narrow it down then. You've got a brain. Use it!"_

Heiji opened his eyes again and passed his hand over his face in exasperation. _And now I'm going crazy. _The teen sighed and turned to look out the open window. _Wait...open window? It wasn't open before when the lights wouldn't turn on...And why do the lights suddenly work?_

_"Now you're getting it." _

_Shut up._ Heiji went over to the window, and found a thick rope looped through the ornate ironwork of the empty window box. It was a short rope, which made sense because even though they were on the first floor, the mansion was so massive that the first-floor windows were actually farther away from the ground than normal. The culprit would need to use the rope to climb up if he were short or unskilled in climbing walls or jumping high, but even a child could easily jump down from this height and walk away unharmed. Thoughts of a child brought an image of Conan jumping out of the window to his mind, and he shook his head quickly to rid himself of it as he stepped away from the window, and headed back toward the door that led to the hallway.

_Why would the killer be so stupid as to leave the rope then? It's obvious it wouldn't be needed for an escape..._

_"Perhaps it's a matter of timing." _

_SHUT UP AND GO AWAY! _Heiji growled under his breath, but his face quickly turned curious again as he reached the door. The object which caught his attention was the light switch, or rather the space between the switch and the door. Four marks that matched the shape of the rectangle that surrounded most common light switches were on the wall right next to the door, and when Heiji touched one of the four marks, he found it to be sticky. He leaned out into the hallway, and called to the director, who was standing and talking with two of the servants outside the adjacent room.

"Show me how you tried to turn on the lights earlier," Heiji ordered. Kazuha gave him an odd and curious look from her place on the floor beside Ran, but did not say a word to him because she didn't want to distract him. She simply watched as the director, without even entering the room, slid his arm into the open doorway; groping along the wall for the light switch. The older man's brow suddenly furrowed in confusion, and Heiji watched the man's fingers move lightly over the sticky residue on the wall until the owner of the fingers poked his head into the room.

"So that's why the light switch seemed so much closer to the door than usual," he exclaimed as he removed his hand. "I thought I must have been losing my mind!" Heiji seemed to not even hear the man as he continued to piece together what Heiji already knew. _Whoever had placed the fake light switch had been waiting in the room ahead of time, and he or she knew that the director would not enter the room if he thought the lights were broken. Any of the servants could know that though, so I have to find something else._

_"You're still avoiding the obvious."_ Heiji froze mid-stride in the middle of the room.

"Shut up!" he demanded aloud; causing the director to cease speaking and vanish back into the hallway indignantly; muttering something to the effect of "I was only trying to help."

That was when Heiji heard the distinct sound of sirens. _Oh crap. I have to have something to tell them._ The teen's eyes darted around the room as he frantically tried to think of some form of evidence he could present without revealing the fact that he couldn't bring himself to even LOOK at the murder victim. Just as he had a rough idea forming in his head, the door to the hallway opened, and Kazuha rushed in to tell him the inspector had arrived and brought Mouri-san as instructed. Then she dragged him out the door to meet them.

Mouri Kogorou sighed pitifully at the sight of his daughter sitting on the floor in the hallway. He had arrived with Inspector Megure before the other officers to give him some spare time to see Ran before helping with the investigation. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, and seemed to be attempting to crush herself with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. What struck him the most was her lack of sobs. Her whole body was still and rigid, but as he knelt down in front of her, he knew she was doing her best to keep her emotions in check. Kogorou, in a rare gesture only reserved for his daughter, gently reached forward and stroked her hair. "Ran?" he said softly. Her whole body seemed to grow tense at the sound of her father's voice, and when she lifted her head and glanced quickly around in alarm he knew why. She had momentarily forgotten the absence of Conan, and had been suddenly worried that if her father was there, he would be too. When her eyes locked with his they filled with tears, which threatened to spill out over her cheeks as she spoke.

"What are we going to tell Conan-kun?" she sobbed; leaning into his chest. Kogorou held her close as he too finally pondered the question. He had heard before that the little boy was very fond of the Kudous, and he wondered how the strangely mature child would react to such a situation.

"Hattori-kun," the inspector greeted solemnly as Heiji and Kazuha came back out into the hallway. Kogorou gave his daughter one final hug; leaning his face very close to her ear as Kazuha approached them.

"I know I always said I didn't like him," he whispered. "but I WILL find out who did this." Ran couldn't help but smile sadly at her father as he left her side to join the inspector and the young detective; allowing herself to regain her composure at the personal reassurance of her father on the case.

Heiji led the two men into the room with his heart pounding in his ears. He had given them the briefest explanation of what he knew, and stared at the evidence he had yet to really observe scattered about on the floor as he left them to find the cause of Kudou Shinichi's death on their own. The battered shield he had noticed earlier had a mace and an empty syringe nearby it, and the rest of the armor the shield belonged to was all over the floor. _The mace is probably what broke the armor._ Heiji knelt down to inspect the terrible, spiked weapon; remembering the crashing sounds and the cries of pain.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he found his gaze wandering to the syringe. _If poison had been in it, there probably wouldn't have been a need to beat his head against the wall. Also, Kudou was still alive when that happened...so this must have been used to incapacitate him. The head trauma couldn't have been enough to KILL him though because he was able to yell again. Then how..._

"Hattori-kun?" the inspector questioned; forcing Heiji to stand up and face them. Fortunately Kogorou's position kept Shinichi for the most part, out of view, so Heiji could concentrate on the inspector. "Did you...um..." Megure started hesitantly. He was trying to be careful about his choice of words so as not to offend the obviously angered teen, but felt himself failing miserably. "Figure out the cause of death?" he finished. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw a flash of terror and sadness in Heiji's eyes. The change in the boy's face was so short-lived though that it wasn't hard for Megure to pretend he hadn't seen it. He knew how to figure out how a person had met his or her demise. He had been a policeman for years. Deep down he knew he had asked the question in order to determine if Heiji could help them with the case.

"Not yet," the teen answered after only a few seconds of hesitation. "I was too busy trying to find any clues the culprit might have left behind." It was not much of an excuse, but Megure let it slide. Kogorou, who had known Megure long enough to understand his intentions, was not so easily deterred.

"Then why don't you do so now and tell us," he said; stepping off to the side so Heiji's way was clear. Heiji didn't move, and for a brief moment looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. His sharp, perceptive green eyes were filled with sadness and anger, and those eyes only disappeared from view when he allowed himself to stare down at his feet in shame.

Kogorou shot Megure a look that matched his thoughts, and the inspector nodded with a sigh as he went up to Heiji. "Maybe you should sit this one out Hattori-kun," he murmured as the sound of more sirens echoed from outside. He placed his hand on the young man's shoulder, and was suddenly met with those eyes once again as Heiji pulled away angrily.

"No Inspector," he started; seeming flustered. "Y-y-you have to give me a chance... Please...I just..." Heiji trailed off and turned away from them; heaving a sigh as Kazuha's words replayed themselves in his mind. "I can solve this... I just need a moment to collect my thoughts." Megure was not entirely convinced, and he knew Kogorou wasn't either. However, he allowed himself to nod at Heiji; letting the teen know that he would be permitted to help.

Despite the inspector's permission though, Heiji held back and let the officers who had just arrived do some investigating of their own. He paced slowly beside the window; tuning out the conversations happening around him and mulling over all the data he had collected so far. The more he thought about it, the more his head began to ache. Just as the frustration of trying to solve a case WITHOUT looking at the victim was getting to him, one of the officers suddenly called over the inspector.

"Sir, you may want to see this," the man called; drawing the attention of Megure and Kogorou. As the two older men went to meet the slightly younger officer kneeling in front of the body, Heiji took a deep breath and walked over to them. His curiosity had gotten the better of him.

"What is it?" he demanded to the surprise of the two older detectives. "Did you find something?" The young officer nodded earnestly, and brandished a small bloody needle in his hand.

"One might mistake this for a sewing needle," the officer explained. "but the end where one would normally find a hole for thread is just broken, which leads me to believe that this was a part of something else. That is, of course, without mentioning that it was embedded nearly its entire length in this young man's shoulder." The officer then turned to Shinichi, pulled down his obviously previously loosened shirt from the neck, and gestured to the forming bruise on his exposed right shoulder. Heiji heard Kogorou hiss quietly behind him and rub his own shoulder, but that was drowned out by the memory of the sound of Shinichi's blood-curdling scream in his head.

He stepped away again; suddenly feeling sick, and barely catching another officer asking the inspector how soon they would be ready to take the body away. Heiji stopped moving and rubbed his sore temple with his fingertips. _It doesn't make sense. That scream came only a few seconds before Ran opened the door._ He glanced back and forth between the window and Shinichi. _There would be no time to completely escape. We would have at least caught a glimpse of the back of the culprit's head as he or she got out the window. _

"I guess it IS a matter of timing then," Heiji mumbled under his breath. _But if the criminal went back through that secret door somehow, he couldn't have blended in with the guests in time. No human being could pull that off unless using one of the guests as an accomplice. But how else then? _

"I hope the kid's eyes weren't open or anything creepy like that," Heiji suddenly heard Kogorou say quietly to the inspector. "I can't imagine what that would do to Ran." It was then that Heiji realized he had wandered back over to the two of them, and something seemed to snap in place in his brain like puzzle pieces.

"But they were open..." he murmured; crouching down right in front of Shinichi and eliciting a sad sigh from Ran's father. _And the were looking DOWN._

The teen detective glanced down at his friend's unmoving right hand in its resting place on the floor, and lifted it in his shaking one. He set it back down quickly after his discovery had been made. "All those complicated dying messages you decipher, and THIS is what you come up with?" he whispered. Then he stood and walked over to the inspector; whispering in his ear and giving him instructions on what to do in the next few minutes.

Five minutes later, the room was cleared out of everyone except Shinichi, and Heiji and Megure stood just out of view outside the door in the hallway while Heiji finally took the time to explain what he had found. "Hattori," the inspector suddenly exclaimed after another few minutes. "Are you saying that Kudo-kun's killer is-"

"The 'killer,' as you so delicately put it Inspector," a new voice interjected. "is still in the room."

**Ok. So sorry this took so long. Sorry if it sucked. Please review anyway.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I must apologize once again. I know this took awhile, but as previously stated I have been extremely busy with this thing called school so please be patient with me. Also, if the chapter sucks I'm sorry. It has been a long month filled with essay writing and it has been stressful. Anyway, before I start rambling, here it is. PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR THE ABSOLUTE RUBBISH YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ! THIS CHAPTER IS NOT WELL ORGANIZED BUT I DON'T REALLY SEE ANY WAY TO FIX IT.**

**I do not own Detective Conan.**

Chapter 11

_"Shinichi?" her voice whispered in the darkness, and he felt her thumb stroking his cheek. "Shinichi please don't do this to me. Please don't leave me again." He could hear the despair in her voice, and within seconds he felt her tears dropping onto his cheeks and sliding away as if they were his own. "Please..." she begged desperately. Then the feeling of her fingertips on his cheeks faded away and he was dragged back into the dark._

_"Shinichi." He tried to ignore the returning voice. The darkness suddenly felt comforting and warmer than the cold world beyond it. In the darkness he could hide forever, and no one could ever find him. There was a certain urgency in the way her hands gripped his arm though, and he suddenly feared for her safety. "Shinichi, wake up!" He sat up straight with a gasp as his eyes flew open. _

_The owner of the voice was nowhere in sight as he glanced at the bright white world surrounding him. He quickly got to his feet as his eyes adjusted to the light. The sky was pure white and the ground seemed to be an endless field of tall grass that went up to his knees. He discovered the grass was extremely soft though as he let his fingers skim over it. He pulled up a blade to further inspect it, but as soon as the blade of grass was plucked from its place it lost its soft touch and grew as rough and brown as a stick._

_"Ran?" he called out, attempting to call her back to him. There was no way she could have vanished without a trace so quickly. She had been gripping his arm until the second he had opened his eyes. He waited and called out again, but no answer came._

_He gazed around himself again and turned in a circle, wondering just where on Earth he was and how he got there. "Do you have any idea how many different ways I thought of to kill you?" Shinichi whirled around once more to face the familiar voice. Naoki smiled at him with a twisted, manic look in his eyes."There were so many choices...I lost count." He stepped closer, and Shinichi stepped back. He had a bad feeling about the whole situation, and he wasn't sure what the man before him was planning._

_"What did you choose?" Shinichi asked in confusion; feeling as if he were missing something important. "Where are we?" Naoki simply laughed and walked away; fading into the endless field. Shinichi almost started to follow him when he suddenly felt a pain in his right shoulder. _

_Wincing, he pulled his sleeve down over his shoulder to reveal a nasty bruise. At the sight of it, a memory surfaced and he heard his own voice screaming out in pain all around him. He clamped his hands over his ears until the sound stopped, but the dull pain remained. Then there were faint whispers present in the wind, but as familiar as the voices sounded he couldn't make out what they were saying or give any of them names. _

_Shinichi decided to try to find a way out of...wherever he was, and he began to wander in the field. The sky began to darken as he went though, and soon all of the grass had grown the dull and rough brown that the blade he had picked up earlier had become. He shivered at how cold it suddenly was, and then immediately dropped to his knees. Everything had begun to tilt and shift before his eyes, and his head pounded so much that he thought he might be sick. He groaned softly at the sudden pain that had spread all over his body, and sat back on the ground as he tried to catch his breath against the intense pain in his right side._

_"Kudou," a new voice murmured from close by. Shinichi lifted his head and spotted a somewhat blurry image of Hattori Heiji kneeling down before him. _

_"H-hattori..." he whispered in response; unable to say anymore. Heiji's eyes looked sad, and he looked down at the ground. Then he reached over and picked up Shinichi's right hand; revealing a bloody arrow on the ground beneath. _

_"All those complicated dying messages you decipher, and THIS is what you come up with?" Heiji commented; his voice nearly inaudible. Shinichi let his head drop forward; too relieved to see a friendly face to let Heiji's words sink in. Then, as if by magic, Heiji disappeared. Shinichi found the strength to lift his head again, and almost wished he hadn't._

_Standing before him was Gin, and he was holding a gun to Ran's head. She didn't say anything, but there were tears coursing down her cheeks. She was scared. She didn't want to die. Gin flashed a wicked grin. "Looks like you couldn't protect her after all," he commented. "What a pity." The gunshot came like a thunderbolt. _

Shinichi jolted forward as if he had been the one who had been shot. Then his hand moved immediately to his right side, which felt constricted and extremely sore, and he glanced over at the dented shield on the floor as he remembered how the pain in his ribcage had come to be. Shinichi leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes against the room that just couldn't seem to stay still. Not being able to breathe normally wasn't helping either.

He didn't open them again until he finally felt like the world had stopped moving. As the movement stopped though, the pain set in and he moaned softly as he rubbed his aching forehead with bloody fingertips. He winced as he realized more blood had begun to stream slowly down the left side of his face. _I must look like I've been hit by a truck._ That was when he heard them. Several familiar voices echoed through the hallway, and he suddenly recalled all that had happened. He glanced down to the arrow on the floor, which had been smeared by his movements. Maybe that wasn't part of my dream. That's probably why no one's in here.

Shinichi sighed and clenched his teeth at the pain it brought. _I just can't catch a break, can I?_ He slowly moved until he was on his knees; gasping heavily as he supported himself with his right hand. His left wrist was swollen, and he was glad he had noticed before trying to put any weight on it. The voices in the hallway got quieter, and he got the feeling that things were calming down. Glancing back at the wall he had been leaning against, he allowed himself to smile as he finally put together how he was supposed to die. _So that was your choice...sorry to disappoint you._

He slowly crawled back over to the wall, and used it to lean on as he shakily got to his feet. He stood still for a moment; his brain trying to convince his legs to stop shaking so much. They still felt somewhat numb, but he had a feeling that if he didn't get to the hallway soon his potential murderer would come back and finish the job. He tried to call out, but his throat stubbornly refused to make any sound loud enough for anyone to hear. _Of course he wouldn't want me to be able to call for help._ Using the wall for support, he made his way to the door. He may not have been able to say anything, but just showing that he was alive would be enough. Once he was closer to the door, he could identify the voices of Heiji and Inspector Megure.

As he inched closer, he swallowed hard; relieved to feel his throat starting to obey him again. He couldn't make out what they were saying until he was directly beside the doorway, and he laughed inwardly as he got ready to interrupt their conversation. _I've got to have a little bit of fun with them._ Shinichi quietly cleared his throat.

"Hattori," the inspector started. "Are you saying that Kudou-kun's killer is-"

"The 'killer,' as you so delicately put it Inspector," Shinichi interjected. "is still in the room." As he spoke he stepped into the doorway, and then leaned on it for support as he caught his breath. He briefly closed his eyes, but he could feel the shocked looks and hear the gasps of the policemen standing around as they saw who was in the doorway. When he opened his eyes again, Heiji was standing right in front of him; looking shocked and a little angry.

"Y-y-you...you were..." Pausing, Heiji took a deep breath to calm himself, which of course, didn't work. "WHAT THE HELL KUDOU? YOU JUST SCARED EVERYONE OUT OF TEN YEARS OF THEIR LIVES!"

"It's ...not my fault that...you guys all ...thought I was dead," Shinichi quietly gasped out; no longer using the cocky, slightly amused voice he had just used to scare the inspector. Heiji's face immediately changed from anger to concern as he looked Shinichi over. The teen was leaning heavily on the doorframe on his left shoulder; letting the rest of that arm fall limp at his side to avoid putting pressure on his swollen wrist. The left side of his shirt was basically dyed red, and there was blood running down his face and neck. His breathing was quick and shallow and his good hand was clutching his right side. _He looks like he's been hit by a truck._

"But Kudou-kun, how-" Inspector Megure started to ask before both he and Heiji were shoved aside by Ran.

"Shinichi?" she murmured tentatively; her eyes brimming with new tears. He gave her the best crooked grin he could manage.

"Hey Ran..." he breathed; forgetting the rest of the somewhat sarcastic remark he had been planning to make. _What was I going to say? Crap...I can't think straight._

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" she suddenly demanded; keeping as tight a reign on her emotions as she could.

"Ran, if this were a joke...the inspector...would be...arresting me...Besides I...I would never..." Shinichi trailed off as dark spots suddenly clouded his vision, and he sunk down to his knees.

"Shinichi?...Shinichi!" He couldn't see her, but the closeness of her voice told him she had joined him on the floor. Other voices seemed to fade in and out, but only hers could be heard clearly. He felt himself falling but her warm arms wouldn't let him. As the feeling of security from her embrace washed over him, he finally let go of consciousness; allowing the darkness to take him back once again.

**I'm so sorry this chapter was so LAME! I have been insanely busy, and I was experiencing the inability to articulate what I had planned out for this chapter in my mind. Also, sorry to the few people who actually did say they wanted Shinichi dead. I knew where this story was going from the start though, so this scene was sort of already planned out. Sorry. Please don't hate me.**


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